UC seeks temporary restraining order to avert strike

By Cynthia Lee

The University of California has filed charges and a request for a temporary restraining order with the Public Employment Relations Board against Local 3299 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the union that represents approximately 19,000 UC patient care technical and service employees.

AFSCME announced May 23 that it intended to strike UC medical centers and campuses June 4-5. The announcement came after an overwhelming majority of those voting statewide voted to authorize a strike systemwide, according to union officials. The union represents more than 11,000 UC patient care technical employees working at five UC hospitals and 8,000 service employees working at 10 campuses.

“The university continues to be available for any further discussions to achieve an acceptable compromise,” said Howard Pripas, executive director of labor relations at UC. “However, we are obligated to take this action to protect our patients and the communities that rely on UC medical centers for vital services."

While all UC locations have contingency plans to continue operations in the event of a strike, the university requested a temporary restraining order with PERB based in large part on the role UC patient care technical and service employees play in protecting public health and safety at the five UC medical centers across the state.

At UCLA, the union represents approximately 5,425 employees, including 3,200 patient care technical workers employed mostly at the UCLA Medical Center and 2,225 service workers, most who work on the main campus. Among the patient care technical workers are radiology, respiratory and operating room technicians. Among the service workers are cooks, servers and other food service and catering personnel; custodians, groundskeepers and other facilities maintenance employees; and campus shuttle drivers.

Administrators and staff on the UCLA campus and at the UCLA Medical Center said they are prepared to deal with a possible work stoppage if it occurs.

The UCLA Medical Center is ready to take measures, including hiring contract workers, to assure that the hospital continues to provide high-quality patient care, said Roxanne Moster, spokesperson for the medical center.

“The UCLA Health System’s highest priority is always our patients,” said Moster, director of the health sciences communications team. Hospital officials have taken all precautions necessary to make sure there will be no compromise in the safety or quality of care of patients, she said. If necessary, certain services may need to be curtailed or reduced in order to maintain the highest level of patient care.

“We truly value all the people who work at this hospital,” she said. “And we are hopeful of a fair and equitable settlement in short order.”

Plans are also being made to maintain essential services in areas of the campus that might be affected by the work stoppage.

• Managers and supervisors will perform tasks where additional support is needed.
• Delivery schedules will be altered to ensure maintenance of medical and other key supplies.
• Menus at medical facilities, student dining halls and catering services may be reduced, and the use of disposable utensils may be increased.
• Cleaning and maintenance schedules will be modified.
• Extra vigilance will be paid to ensuring the safety of patients, students, faculty, staff and the general public.

UC has been negotiating with AFSCME for the last 10 months on a new contract for patient care technical employees and for the last seven months on another contract for service employees. The central issue, said union leaders in a press release, is that of wages.

UC’s latest proposals include more than $25 million in combined wage increases in the first year of the contracts and conversion to step-based wage structures, which the union has said was a requirement for agreement.

"AFSCME's strike threat is very unfortunate as it does not help move us closer to an agreement, but we will not be deterred from our goal of getting good contracts for our dedicated employees," Pripas said.

Find more information about the bargaining at www.ucpatientcaretechs.com and also at UC At Your Service.