AFSCME ON STRIKE MAY 14 – FIND A PICKET LINE NEAR YOU, WEAR YOUR UC-AFT GEAR, AND JOIN YOUR COLLEAGUES!
Our colleagues from AFSCME 3299 (representing 40,000 janitors, food service, transportation, patient care specialists, and skilled craft workers at UC) will be going out on strike starting May 14th. This will be the first open-ended strike in 3299’s history, so we need to prepare for a long haul.
AFSCME has been bargaining with UCOP for over 3 years now and working without a negotiated contract for nearly as long. They have been on strike twice already during this campaign, have accumulated dozens of Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges during that time, and went through legally-mandated impasse procedures (see below). This strike concerns two of their biggest charges thus far:
- The UC’s refusal to bargain in good faith over their housing demands
AFSCME has made housing unaffordability a major part of their campaign since day one. Specifically, they have passed proposals to expand access to the housing assistance programs that the UC offers tenure-track professors and administrators. Since 2020, UC has provided $1.6 billion in housing assistance loans to its higher earners, and AFSCME has been asking: why can’t they offer the same to their lowest-paid employees, who are commuting long distances and struggling to pay for housing, gas, parking, and to put food on the table?
- The UC’s imposition of healthcare increases and other terms while negotiations are ongoing, which the union considers unlawful
After AFSCME’s collective bargaining negotiations with UC reached an impasse, UCOP “imposed” new contract terms, which an employer is legally-entitled to do after following legally-mandated impasse procedures (see PERB rule 900.05000). Included in the terms of UC’s imposed contract was a removal of their healthcare caps, which limited AFSCME-represented workers’ monthly contributions to their healthcare plans to $10/month, a victory they had to strike to win in 2013.
While most of the picket lines will be focused at UC Health hospitals and facilities, there will be rallies and actions on our campuses as well. You can and should expect disruptions on your campus. During past strikes we’ve seen transit services get tangled, as other unions refuse to cross picket lines in solidarity, and some campus services will undoubtedly be impacted. You may need to make alternative plans or allow additional time to get to your classroom or office. But that’s what strikes are designed to do: workers demonstrate the value of their labor by refusing to perform their work.
These workers are our colleagues and vital members of our campus communities. They are confronting many of the same issues we are: an affordability crisis that makes it impossible to live in the communities where they work; chronic short staffing that increases their workloads and puts their patients and students in danger; and restrictions on their rights to protest and exercise their first amendment rights. Let’s join them in their fight to ensure every UC worker is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve!
We’ve put together this short FAQ for our members to understand your rights and how you can support our striking colleagues. If you have additional questions, contact your campus representative or chapter steward.
To find a picket line on your campus: https://afscme3299.org/blog/open-ended-strike/
Donate to the AFSCME strike solidarity fund: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/support-striking-uc-workers
AFSCME represents 40,000 service workers (janitors, food service, transportation), patient care specialists (hospital orderlies, technicians, etc.), and skilled craft workers on all 10 UC campuses as well as in the UC’s hospitals. They have announced work stoppages at all UC Medical Centers and campuses starting May 14. We can and should expect disruptions of campus services, as well as at the Medical Centers.
AFSCME began their current collective bargaining negotiations in 2023 and has already been on strike twice since. They have already been through legally-required impasse procedures, as we did in 2021 during our contract fight. By law, when the two parties engaged in collective bargaining reach, “a point in meeting and conferring at which their differences in positions are such that further meetings would be futile,” an impasse can be declared. This requires official assessment and recognition by the CA Public Employment Relations Bureau (PERB) and obligates both parties to participate in good faith, legally-mandated impasse resolution procedures, including mediation and fact-finding.
At the end of their impasse, the UC imposed its own “last, best, and final” contract, the terms of which AFSCME members find unacceptable. These terms include wages which do not keep pace with inflation and the removal of their hard-fought healthcare caps. AFSCME has filed dozens of Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges throughout their campaign and now their members have voted to authorize an open-ended strike.
While UC has demanded that we include a no-strikes clause in our collective bargaining agreement (U18 Article 35, U17 Article 27), there are many other ways to support our colleagues from AFSCME while they are out on strike!
- You CAN join the picket line while you are not teaching or performing your assigned work – pickets will be from 8am to 1pm and you can find a location in your area here: https://afscme3299.org/blog/open-ended-strike/
- You CAN donate to AFSCME’s strike solidarity fund: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/support-striking-uc-workers
- You CAN exercise your first amendment rights by wearing a union button or t-shirt, expressing your opinions about the strike, and discussing your own union membership.
- You CAN bring a lunch with you to campus and refuse to purchase anything from campus stores and facilities where AFSCME members work.
Every UC worker represented by UC-AFT is protected by the University of California’s Academic Freedom policy (APM 010) which is codified in both our Unit 17 and Unit 18 CBAs (collective bargaining agreements). We have the right to express our opinions and to participate in peaceful action as university community members. We must fulfill our professional obligations under the provisions of our Academic Responsibilities (Unit 18 Article 3) and Professional Activities (Unit 17 Article 3) according to our respective CBAs. This means that we must go to work and to class, and we must complete all of our assigned duties as instructional faculty and librarians. Participation in campus activities that do not interfere with those obligations or with the normal functioning of the university is permitted and should not be interfered with by the university.
Academic Freedom allows us to make decisions about our courses, including modifications to pedagogy and course policies. We also have the right to modify our courses in ways that reflect unique circumstances on campus. As we mention above, as instructors we must maintain our Academic Responsibility (Unit 18 Article 3) as well.
UC-AFT encourages any teaching faculty member who modifies their course to ensure that changes do not harm students, and to clearly notify all of their students of any change.
You can teach your class near the picket line or move it to an off campus location. You may also move your class to zoom and/or offer it asynchronously. Your campus may have specific policies about these location and/or modality changes that could be relevant, as we’ve learned in the past. If you have any questions about those campus policies, contact your campus representative or chapter steward.
Academic Freedom allows us to make decisions about our courses, including modifications to pedagogy and course policies. We also have the right to modify our courses in ways that reflect unique circumstances on campus. As we mention above, as instructors we must maintain our Academic Responsibility (Unit 18 Article 3) as well.
UC-AFT encourages any teaching faculty member who modifies their course to ensure that changes do not harm students, and to clearly notify all of their students of any change.
As we saw during the UAW strike in 2022, campus administrators may ask us to participate in their enforcement against striking workers. You do not have to comply with such requests: your academic freedom gives you a right to maintain and uphold reasonable accommodation agreements during periods of campus unrest.
If your department suggests otherwise, contact your campus representative immediately.
Librarians rights and responsibilities during a strike are slightly different than those of teaching faculty. Librarians who supervise Academic Student Employees, Graduate Student Researchers, or other UAW represented employees have the right to refuse to perform struck work and to report on the activities of the academic workers that they supervise. As union represented employees, we are protected by the University of California’s Academic Freedom policy (APM 010) which is codified in Unit 17 collective bargaining agreement (See Article 3) Like lecturers, librarians have the right to express their opinions and to participate in peaceful action as university community members, so long as they complete their assigned duties and fulfill their professional obligations.
AFSCME’s strike is designed to disrupt regular campus operations to demonstrate the value of their labor. During past strikes we’ve also seen transit services get tangled, as other unions may refuse to cross their picket lines in solidarity. You may need to make alternative plans or allow additional time to get to your classroom or office.
Janitorial services may also be disrupted, which could mean for messy bathrooms and/or uncollected garbage. You are under no obligation to pick up this struck work.
AFSCME workers also include those at cafeterias, restaurants, and campus shops. These services may be closed and/or experience service disruptions. You can demonstrate your solidarity with them by refusing to buy food and other items at those outlets for the duration of the strike.
