UC Professional and Technical Employees union authorizes strike at all campuses scheduled for later this month
ISLA VISTA, Calif. – On Friday, members of the University Professional and Technical Employees - a union representing almost 20,000 healthcare, research, and technical employees of the University of California system - voted to authorize an Unfair Labor Practice strike.
The strike action will occur at all University of California campuses and medical centers on Feb. 26, 27, and 28 shared a press release from the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE-CWA Local 9119).
The University of California system is the nation's largest academic health system and the third largest healthcare delivery system in the state detailed the UPTE.
According to the labor group, the strike was authorized due to unfair labor practices including unlawful decisions to impose healthcare costs on members, a refusal to disclose staffing vacancies, and speech-restricting policies that limit opportunities to expose unfair labor practices.
"UC [The University of California system] is a leader in cancer research, but the reality behind the scenes is deeply frustrating," explained Maryam Azizadah, a research worker in the Hematology/Oncology Clinical Research Unit at UCLA. "I see life-saving experimental treatments delayed because our system is overwhelmed and understaffed. We don’t have enough coordinators, nurses, or administrators to process patients quickly—meaning people who urgently need treatment are stuck waiting for weeks for their time-sensitive cancer care. This isn’t just a bureaucratic issue; it’s a matter of life and death. We have groundbreaking therapies available, but without adequate staffing, we can’t get them to patients fast enough. If UC truly wants to be at the forefront of medical innovation, it must invest in the workforce that makes these advancements possible."
The strike authorization follows eight months of bargaining between the University of California system and the employee union and all current labor contracts expired at the end of October 2024 explained UPTE-CWA Local 9119.
In response to the strike authorization and Your News Channel's inquiries, the University of California system responded by email stating:
It’s disheartening that UPTE continues to talk about striking and insisting UC come back to the bargaining table when they didn’t show up for the last scheduled bargaining session and then declared negotiations were at an impasse before responding to UC’s previous offers.
There is no staffing crisis at UC. Data that we’ve already shared with UPTE shows that headcount is going UP, separations are declining, and turnover is flattening. There is no truth to this claim. Continuing to repeat it does not make it true.
The University has been and remains ready to settle these contracts: we have offered UPTE what it has asked for, including higher wages, reduced health care premiums for lower-paid staff, regular step increases, more vacation and sick leave, an extra holiday and career growth opportunities.
UPTE, meanwhile, has refused to offer counterproposals, seemingly preferring to circulate demonstrably false information rather than engaging in good-faith negotiations on key issues.
Before their votes even closed, UPTE had already declared on their website that they intended to strike. It seems that no matter what UC has offered or what their members want, the outcome has already been determined.
According to the UPTE, between October of 2018 and 2023, the number of senior executive leaders grew by 42.5 percent while the number of frontline staff increased by about 18.6 percent and the group noted the over $30 billion expected to be spent between fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2029 earmarked for capital projects, public-private partnerships, and acquisitions of hospitals and medical centers.
"UC [The University of California system] has refused to engage in meaningful dialogue or provide substantive counterproposals to nearly all of UPTE’s proposals, while continuing to engage in unfair labor practices," said Dan Russell, an IT worker at UC Berkeley and UPTE's statewide President and Chief Negotiator. "We are forced to strike due to UC’s persistent unfair labor practices, blowing the whistle as patient and research advocates on a staffing crisis that threatens patient care and critical research—all while the University funnels billions into capital projects and inflates top salaries by 40%. UPTE members will not allow UC to drag out negotiations indefinitely, and we have made it clear that we are more than willing to withhold our labor if that’s what it takes to make UC take our concerns seriously. Instead of engaging with us, UC is silencing the very whistleblowers fighting for our patients."
