A strike that would have disrupted operations affecting thousands of University of California hospital patients and students was averted at the 11th hour Thursday morning after UC and leaders of 40,000 union members reached a tentative agreement, winning raises and capped healthcare costs for workers.
“WE WON! Strike is off!” read an announcementfrom the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. Workers were told to report to work Thursday at the system’s sprawling network of medical centers and campuses.
AFSCME’s members include custodians, gardeners, dining hall food service staff, transportation workers and skilled craft workers such as plumbers and electricians. At UC hospitals, union members work in cafeterias, as radiology technologists and as nurse’s aides, among other roles.
Because about two-thirds of union members work at UC’s academic health centers at UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Francisco and UC Davis, hospital officials had been preparing for significant challenges to patient care as the strike deadline approached.
If the deal is approved by members, the union said UC would gradually raise the lowest-paid workers to an hourly wage of $30.10 by 2029. They currently make $25 per hour under raises UC instituted last year. The tentative agreement would also give workers a one-time $1,500 payment, cap healthcare premium increases, put limitations on layoffs, expand leave and break abilities, add new holidays where workers get premium pay, and place caps on parking increases and other workplace costs.
AFSCME Local 3299 President Michael Avant hailed the agreement.
“It means UC’s most vulnerable workers will no longer have to choose between paying for healthcare and paying for groceries,” said Avant, who works as a patient transporter at UC San Diego Medical Center. “This process took persistence and involved great sacrifices by every single one of our members. The tentative agreements we’ve reached ensure they will be better off, and better able to keep pace with rising costs so they can build a better future for their families.”
In a statement, UC Associate Vice President for Systemwide Employee and Labor Relations Missy Matella said the deal “recognizes the important work these employees do every day across UC’s campuses and health centers.”
“This contract delivers meaningful pay increases and addresses some of the real affordability pressures our employees are facing, while allowing us to move forward together focused on UC’s mission of patient care, teaching and research,” Matella said.
The tentative agreement culminates more than two years of contract negotiations and several one-day and multi-day strikes. Members are scheduled to vote on it May 19 thorugh 21. If approved, it would be effective through November 2029.
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