UC Union Coalition Urges Drake to Extend Critical COVID Protections
January 10, 2022
Dr. Michael V Drake, President and UC Regents
University of California Office of the President
University of California 1111 Franklin St., 12th Floor
Oakland, CA 94607
Re: UCUC Urge Critical COVID Protections for Workers
Dear President Drake and UC Regents:
As we head into the third year of COVID and a severe surge in COVID-19 cases, the Union Coalition urges UC to act quickly to extend and expand critical protections to its workers. Specifically, the members of the UC Union Coalition urge you to provide an additional 128 hours of COVID-19 paid administrative leave for UC employees; extend leave programs through at least the end of 2022; extend leave hours to all new hires; restore sick, vacation, PTO or any other benefit time retroactive to January 1, 2021 and instead use COVID-19 supplemental emergency paid sick leave; and enhance the Cal OSHA Emergency Standard that continues an employee’s income when they are excluded from work for COVID-related reasons.
The pandemic has been with us for two years and many workers have exhausted the previously provided COVID-19 leave or were never provided paid leave because they were hired after September 30, 2021. The UC COVID leave programs have proven invaluable and remain important tools in maintaining stability and controlling the negative impacts of COVID-19. While the rollout of vaccines gives us reason for optimism, safety measures remain necessary to maintain the safety of health care workers, patients, campus staff and students in order to mitigate the negative impact of the virus, including ensuring that sick workers are not vectors for spreading the virus at work. Therefore, UC workers still have an urgent need to have access to paid leave for coronavirus-related reasons.
Signed,
AFSCME 3299
CIR/SEIU
CNA
CUCFA
Teamsters 2010
UAPD
UAW 2865
UAW 5810
UC-AFT 1474
UPTE-CWA
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