UC Service Workers Strike at Medical Centers, Campuses Statewide
On Monday, members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees began a scheduled five-day strike at the University of California's five medical centers and 10 campuses statewide, the Oakland Tribune reports (Lowe, Oakland Tribune, 7/14).
Although some patient care workers represented by AFSCME joined the service workers in a sympathy strike, UC spokesperson Nicole Savickas said that all UC medical centers were fully operational Monday morning and that most patient care workers had reported for their jobs.
Savickas said the medical centers were relying on temporary workers to perform some duties (Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle, 7/15).
The strike centers on service workers' demands for wage increases (Saavedra, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7/15).
On Friday, UC administrators won a temporary restraining order barring the strike (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/15).
However, union officials maintained that proper notice had been given and that the strike is legal (San Diego Union-Tribune, 7/15).
University officials said striking workers will be subject to disciplinary procedures, but union officials said they would contest any disciplinary action (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/15).