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20,000 workers at UC system plan 3-day strike beginning Wednesday

February 26, 2025

More than 20,000 University of California employees plan to strike at research labs and medical facilities across the 10-campus system beginning Wednesday, Feb. 26, and continuing through Friday.

Dan Russell, president of the University Professional and Technical Employees-CWA Local 9119, said Tuesday that staffing shortages amounting to “thousands of workers” are eroding patient care and hurting California research operations. Those facilities include UC campuses, hospitals, laboratories and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

“We started this process over two years ago,” Russell said. “Our members are pretty insulted that UC has just refused to even have this conversation.”

Also see: UC campus and hospital worker strike continues across university system

In Southern California, the union plans strikes at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, UC Riverside and UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange.

Some non-life threatening surgeries could be affected at those facilities, Russell said.

“We’re working with the university to make sure that there are staff on site if any emergencies happen, and nobody has any permanent repercussions,” he said. Outpatient surgeries may be rescheduled.

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The unionized workers include physician assistants, optometrists, pharmacists, RN case managers, rehabilitation specialists, mental health clinicians, clinical lab scientists, staff research associates and IT analysts.

“The university [system] will do everything possible to ensure strike impacts on patients, students, faculty and staff are mitigated,” UC spokeswoman Heather Hansen said in a statement.

Hansen, who said that the union walked away from the negotiation table in the most recent bargaining session and declared an impasse, denied that a staffing crisis exists within the UC system.

The university is “disappointed” that the union took the route of striking instead of responding to its wage and benefit proposals since May 2024.

She wrote in an email that the university proposed a 5% across-the-board pay increase beginning July 1 and a 3% wage increase in the second and third years of the contract. The university also offered to raise all lower-paid employees to a wage of at least $25 an hour by July 1.

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Russell said that negotiations began in earnest in June but collapsed in the fall when university negotiators walked away from the bargaining table.

Nearly all, or 98%, of union members voted in favor of the strike authorization on Feb. 14, he said.

Over 20,000 healthcare, research and technical employees plan to strike at research labs and medical facilities across the 10-campus University of California system beginning Wednesday, Feb. 26, and continuing through Feb. 28. Above, Dan Russell, president of the University Professional and Technical Employees-CWA Local 9119, protesting at the UC Irvine Health campus in Orange on Aug. 14, 2024, regarding staffing shortages and eroding patient care. (Photo courtesy of UPTE union)

20,000 workers at UC system plan 3-day strike beginning Wednesday Orange County Register

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20,000 workers at UC system plan 3-day strike beginning Wednesday

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