This post was updated Nov. 6 at 11:04 p.m.
Over 80,000 workers may strike across the UC on Nov. 17 and 18.
UPTE-CWA 9119 and AFSCME Local 3299 went on strike four times in the 2024-25 academic year. Most dining halls on the Hill closed during the strikes, and custodial and mail services were also interrupted.
[Related: UPTE-CWA 9119, AFSCME Local 3299 strike in response to UC system hiring freezes]
AFSCME Local 3299 has been in negotiations with the UC since January 2024, after the contracts of its patient care and service workers units expired in July 2024 and October 2024, respectively. In an AFSCME Local 3299 press release, the union alleged that the UC has failed to settle contracts that address the heightened cost of living and California’s housing crisis.
[Related: UPTE-CWA 9119, AFSCME Local 3299 negotiations with UC remains ongoing]
AFSCME Local 3299 also alleged in the press release that thousands of service and patient care technical workers have voluntarily exited their jobs at the UC over the past three years.
“Our members have had enough of UC’s serial elitism, tone deafness and blatant disrespect for the workers who make this institution run, and that’s why they will strike at every UC campus and Medical Center on November 17th and 18th,” said Michael Avant, the president of AFSCME Local 3299, in the press release.
Liz Perlman, the executive director of AFSCME Local 3299, said the University has not met the needs of its workers, leaving them “struggling and fighting” to prosper.
“We have a long standing tradition, I would say, at the University, of having one another’s back,” she said.
UPTE-CWA 9119’s negotiations with the University began in June 2024, and its contract expired in October 2024. The union’s website says its workers are striking because of the UC’s alleged failure to reach a contract, adding that staffing shortages have endangered patients and research.
Max Belasco, a co-chair of UCLA’s chapter of UPTE-CWA 9119, said the University has not bargained in good faith with the union – adding that the strike was called because union members want a resolution as soon as possible.
“We don’t want to wait for any longer, and we need to be treated as – really – partners in this negotiation,” Belasco, an information technology worker at the UCLA School of Law, said.
The union held a strike vote that closed Oct. 2, in which 97% of over 10,000 members who voted to authorize the strike. It also hosted a rally Thursday at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and is “ready to escalate until we win,” according to UPTE-CWA 9119’s website.
About 60 people attended the rally, with attendees holding a banner which read “For Our Patients, For Our Research, For Our Students.”
Jacqueline Euan, a pediatric social worker at UCLA Health who attended the rally, said the university has lost experienced social workers over the past 10 years. She added that the university needs to retain staff better and offer competitive wage increases to support the UC’s work.
“Even if you’re a student, get involved in whatever way you find,” Euan said. “Whether it’s joining our picket lines, find a way to get involved in the labor movement, because this is just getting started.”
A spokesperson for the UC Office of the President condemned the strike in a Thursday statement, calling it “unnecessary” and “irresponsible.”
“Resorting to a strike does nothing to resolve the issues at hand — it only delays progress and harms the very people the union claims to support,” the statement said. “UC values its professional and technical employees and deeply respects their service. But progress requires partnership, not ultimatums.”
The California Nurses Association said in a press release that its UC nurses plan to strike in solidarity with AFSCME Local 3299 and UPTE-CWA 9119 because of the UC’s failure to treat the unions’ employees with respect.
“Union registered nurses who work at the University of California system stand united against any attempts by our employer to cut corners and deprive our coworkers of fair contracts,” said Maureen Dugan, a registered nurse at UCSF Parnassus and a member of CNA’s Board of Directors, in the press release. “UPTE and AFSCME members are an integral part of making the UC a world-class institution for education, research, and health care.”
AFSCME Local 3299 has “voluntarily exempted” some of its critical care workers from the strike to support patients in emergencies, it added in the press release. The union also said in the press release that while it is the UC’s responsibility to create contingency plans during strikes, AFSCME Local 3299 is doing so in case the University’s plans are not sufficient in meeting patients’ needs.
[Related: AFSCME Local 3299, UPTE-CWA 9119 march across UCLA campus, disrupting dining halls]
About 40 protesters for AFSCME Local 3299 protested on campus Oct. 1. The protesters walked from Kaplan Hall to Murphy Hall – where UCLA’s administrative offices are housed – chanting, “What do we want? Safe staffing. When do we want it? Now.”
The second day of the strike will overlap with the first day of the UC Board of Regents’ November meeting, which will run from Nov. 18 to Nov. 20 at the Luskin Conference Center.
The UC Office of the President said in a separate Thursday statement that it is disappointed that the unions have chosen to go on strike, and that the University is committed to reaching a fair contract with them.
“UPTE, CNA, and AFSCME’s announcement of a coordinated two-day systemwide strike is an attempt to pressure the University into accepting unreasonable wage and benefit demands that would put UC in a financially precarious position and jeopardize its mission of teaching, research and public service,” they said in the statement.
Contributing reports from Amanda Velasco and Phoebe Huss, Daily Bruin staff.
