Tens of Thousands of UC Workers Strike, Disrupting Campuses, Hospitals and Labs

Updated 4 p.m. Wednesday

Tens of thousands of University of California health care, research and technical employees began a multiday strike Wednesday, disrupting daily operations at UC campuses, hospitals and laboratories after contract negotiations with the university reached an impasse early last month.

More than 50,000 UC workers represented by the University Professional and Technical Employees Local 9119 and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 could walk out this week over top union concerns such as low wages and severe understaffing, which the university disputes.

In San Francisco, about 6,000 people represented by AFSCME joined the picket line, according to union representatives. At UC Berkeley, hundreds of workers from both labor groups were joined by students and community members as they marched through campus.

Carmen Lee, a shuttle driver at UC San Francisco and AFSCME executive board member, said she decided to strike because of the ongoing affordability crisis. Lee said workers need better compensation so they can keep up with increases in housing and health care costs. She believes the university has the funds available.

Lee pointed out that the university increased compensation for top executives last year while refusing to pay its service and patient care workers enough money to afford housing near UC campuses.

“Patient care and service workers in the UC system left because the university is not invested in taking care of them or really prioritizing their well-being,” said Liz Perlman, executive director of AFSCME Local 3299, which represents more than 30,000 UC employees statewide.

UPTE Local 9119, which represents approximately 20,000 workers, authorized the strike earlier this month with 98% approval.

Contract negotiations between the two unions and UC — one of the state’s largest employers with over 200,000 workers — began months ago, but no agreements have been reached.

The university offered UPTE a 5% wage increase starting July 1, 2025, followed by a 3% raise both in 2026 and 2027. Its offer for AFSCME included raises of 5% in 2025, 4% in 2026, and 3% in 2027, 2028 and 2029. The unions have said the proposals are insufficient and suggested wage increases do not accurately reflect the increased cost of living.

Over the last four years, more than 13,000 UC patient care and service workers have resigned from their posts, according to a Tuesday press release from AFSCME. Despite the invaluable services UC workers provide to the university, they’re dealing with a 10% inflationary cut to their real wages, Perlman said.

Many employees are struggling to keep up with rising housing and health care costs, forcing some to sleep in their cars or endure hours-long commutes just to continue working at the university, she added.

Union representatives and UC employees have also expressed frustration with what they say are pervasive staffing shortages at many of the university’s medical facilities.

“There’s so much demand in the hospital and not enough staff to address patient needs… so patients are staying longer,” Shawn Singh, a nurse case manager at UCSF, said. “It just really creates the recipe for burnout, moral distress and poor quality in patient care within the hospital system.”

Singh said health care workers and technicians, expected to handle an exorbitant number of responsibilities, are being stretched thin. It’s starting to harm their patients, which is why the employees decided to go on strike, he added.

Sarah Roberts, a Spanish medical interpreter at UCSF Medical Center, is one of the thousands of striking medical workers. She said her department has been cut in half despite the demand for language interpretation services at UC facilities staying consistent. Roberts said discharging patients after serious procedures without a language interpreter leads to more medical complications and higher readmittance rates.

“I see patients that should be getting the services of a qualified in-person medical interpreter not getting that, and their care is suffering because of it,” she said. “I am completely burnt out. I don’t know how much longer I can even stay here if this continues to be the way the university wants to do things.”

In January 2023, UC Chief Financial Officer Nathan Brostrom told the Board of Regents that vacancy staff rates have tripled since the pandemic, but the university is arguing the opposite. Heather Hansen, a spokesperson with the UC Office of the President, said university data indicates that the headcount of UPTE members has increased and turnover rates are flattening.

“There is no truth to the claim that we have a vacancy issue,” Hansen said. “They want to demand we freeze positions and have them set aside for union members in perpetuity, but that would severely limit our ability to adapt to changing operational needs and unforeseen consequences such as a pandemic.”

Hansen said the university is disappointed in the two unions for deciding to strike, but she said the UC is ready to resolve a contract with both unions. The university has plans to bring in contract workers to minimize disruptions to patients, students and school operations.

On Sunday, the parties agreed that dozens of employees essential to health and safety operations will not participate in the strike. The UC withdrew its request to the California Public Employment Relation Board for a court injunction against the unions, according to Felix De La Torre, general counsel for the PERB.

Both UPTE Local 9119 and AFSCME Local 3299 have accused the university of engaging in unfair labor practices before state regulators, including for an alleged crackdown on free speech, which the university denies. The PERB is investigating the charges, and Hansen said the process could take months.

“Because of our responsibility to our patients, it’s important that we are able to speak out when we see things that are detrimental to the quality of that care,” said Michael McGlenn, a clinical psychologist at UC San Diego. “The UC has moved to restrict our ability to speak out and advocate for our patient… Our providers care too much about the folks that we serve to be silenced and we’re not going to keep our heads down any longer.”

The labor action comes as the federal government and the National Institutes of Health threaten to cut funding for biomedical and public research at universities and research facilities across the country. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Massachusetts placed a temporary block on the cuts, which the university said would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars per year, after California and several other states filed suit. The pause was extended last week.

Workers with UPTE Local 9119 will be on strike through Friday, and those represented by AFSCME Local 3229 will be on strike through Thursday.