Several food locations on campus shut down as unions protest alleged bad faith negotiations
By KHADEEJAH KHAN, JESSICA YUNG and VINCE BASADA – campus@theaggie.org
Labor unions representing food service, technical and healthcare staff across the UC system entered a two-day strike on Wednesday, Nov. 20 both in protest of a stalled contract dispute and against what they allege are bad faith negotiations from UC administrators.
Picketers organized at the Hutchison Intramural Field, at the intersection of La Rue Road and Hutchinson Drive. Strikers set up tents and green signs reading , “AFSCME On Strike.” AFSCME 3299 had plans to demonstrate on the field from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. through the rain, according to its Instagram page.
The workers are members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 (AFSCME 3299) and the University Professional and Technical Employees at UCSF (UPTE). Together they represent nearly 40,000 workers across 10 campuses and a handful of auxiliary and healthcare locations, including some 6,000 at UC Davis.
“By refusing to bargain in good faith, the University has made it clear that it does not value the frontline workers who clean its facilities, serve students food and treat patients,” AFSCME 3299 President Michael Avant wrote in a statement on the strike. “If UC refuses to meet its most basic legal responsibilities to employees, we will hold them accountable by exercising our legal right to strike.”
The union says that the UC has failed to bargain over plans to increase healthcare costs by hundreds of dollars monthly, and that facilities are regularly understaffed. Union members have also noted that current wages make it difficult to find living close to campus.
“Our bargaining team has been meeting with the UC’s bargaining team and they have come unprepared,” Leticia Garcia-Prado, a medical assistant at the Student Health Center, told The Aggie. “[UC negotiators] have not been giving us what we have been asking. They have time, they have weeks ahead but they have come with no proposals. They have been unfaithfully bargaining and that’s why we are doing this, because we want them to bargain fairly for us and they have not.”
According to Garcia-Prado, negotiations have been underway for almost a year, yet due to alleged bad-faith negotiations, they have not reached an agreement.
Hamsa Parab, a third-year cognitive science neuroscience student and intern with AFSCME 3299, expanded on the alleged wrongdoings of the UC system.
“[UC negotiators] are not coming in with the right information, or they’re withholding important information for those negotiations,” Parab said. “That’s illegal when it comes to negotiating a contract. That has given us grounds to go on strike.”
UCD Student Housing and Dining Services have temporarily closed the Cuarto Dining Commons, Latitude, Scrubs, The Gunrock, Spokes and the Meal Card Office through the end of the strike on Thursday, Nov. 21. The Segundo and Tercero Dining Commons will operate with limited hours, and markets at all three residential living areas and the Silo will remain open with regular hours.
With dining commons and health centers impacted by strike, Parab urges students to inform themselves about the impact workers have on their day-to-day campus lives in order to understand the reason behind the strike.
“They’re the backbone of our Davis community,” Parab said. “We wouldn’t have access to good food. We won’t have access to clean residence halls without them. They’re the ones doing the groundwork. They’re the ones making sure you have what you need every single day.”
To fill in for the vacancies on campus during the strike, the university has outsourced workers with a pay of $32, seven dollars higher than the $25 pay workers have demanded during negotiations. To Parab, this hiring practice feels like a betrayal to the workers who have served the students for years.
“Rather than hiring our local workers, our contracted workers, for those vacancies, they’ve been outsourcing for those drops instead,” Parab said. “You’re not giving them the proper increases or you’re not giving them the correct wages, do they matter? Does their time matter? Does the support that they’ve given the UC system matter?”
For the union, the housing crisis is a major concern amidst negotiations. However, the bad faith negotiations, in addition to UC’s $8.6 billion investment in Blackstone, a private equity firm with a history of buying out single family homes, is troubling to many union members.
“A lot of students care about affordable housing,” Parab said. “Ultimately, the money that’s going into Blackstone comes from our workers pension plans, right? That money isn’t coming from anywhere.”
A statement issued by the UC earlier this month read, in part, “We fundamentally disagree with AFSCME’s claims of bad faith bargaining and characterization of unacceptable bargaining proposals.”
It continues, “The university is dedicated to working in good faith through these impasse procedures to reach a fair agreement supporting these valued employees. During AFSCME’s last round of bargaining with UC, the union went on strike six times. Thus, AFSCME’s strike notice is not a surprise, but it is premature and is a disheartening development, nonetheless.”
A UCD spokesman told The Aggie that, “UC Davis respects our AFSCME-represented staff and is committed to good-faith negotiations, fair wages, excellent benefits and full engagement in the collective bargaining process. Our union-represented employees are key to the success of the university, which is why the University of California has offered raises averaging 26% and hourly wages and annual increases that meet the union’s original demands.”
The spokesman also noted that instruction, research and other campus operations will continue without disruption.
The strike is the second major labor demonstration in the UC system this year; academic workers represented by UAW 4811 struck in spring over several alleged unfair labor practices.
Workers are also picketing at the UCD Medical Center in Sacramento, though a UCD Health representative told The Aggie that they do not expect any disruptions in patient care as a result of the strike.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Written by: Khadeejah Khan, Jessica Yung and Vince Basada – campus@theaggie.org
