Workers across the University of California system are fighting for a fair contract and wages that allow them to live in the communities where they work. - Courtesy of AFCME 3299

AFSCME university workers continue contract fight

Labor Bulletin September 4, 2024October 4, 2024

By Sheri Williams

Thousands of AFSCME members rallied in downtown Los Angeles in August to continue the fight for a fair contract for workers across the 10-campus system.

“You are not alone,” AFSCME President Lee Saunders said. “First of all, you’ve got 1.4 million members who have your back. And if we need to, we will take it to the streets. You are not afraid, and we are not afraid. And we always stand up for what we believe in.”

University of California hospital and service workers—30,000 of whom make up AFSCME Local 3299—were joined by thousands of fellow AFSCME members from across the country who were in Los Angeles for the union’s 46th international convention.

National labor leaders, including Saunders and AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, were in attendance and delivered remarks urging UC to invest in their essential workforce.

“I’m bringing the voices of twelve and a half million workers, sixty unions who have your back!,” Shuler said. “This brings home what workers all across this country are feeling and fighting for. Housing affordability is the number one issue. Workers can’t afford to live where they work. But it’s so basic: We deserve to live in the communities where we serve.”

Countless essential UC employees can no longer afford to live within the communities they serve due to stagnant wages that have failed to keep up with housing costs, the union said. Many have precious few hours at home with their loved ones before the long commute to their next shift.

UC Administrative Clinical Care Partner and AFSCME Local 3299 member Monica Martinez said that she is “lucky I have not been pushed out of my hometown—at least not yet.”

Martinez said the same is not true for many of her colleagues.

“Many are forced to live hours away from the hospitals and campuses they serve,” she said. “Many are sleeping in UC parking lots because it’s easier than traveling home before their next shift. If UC continues to ignore this crisis among their workforce … they won’t have one anymore. And LA, San Diego, San Francisco and all the communities UC operates in will look completely different without us here—without the hard-working people whose families have called these areas home for generations.

Since January of 2024, AFSCME Local 3299 workers have been in negotiations with UC management for a new contract that will bring them livable wages and housing assistance. But despite offering home loan programs for faculty and executive staff, UC has thus far refused any assistance for the front-line workers who keep their hospitals and campuses running.

“We make the University of California one of the best university systems in the world,” said AFSCME International Vice President Kathryn Lybarger. “That is what we do. That is what AFSCME does. And yet since 2017 our workers have received an 8% pay cut. And since 2017, the executives at the university have received a 36% pay increase. Is that okay? No, it’s not!”

The front-line service and patient care workers who are members of AFSCME Local 3299 earlier this summer took to the picket lines. Protests and rallies were held at all 10 UC campuses, 9 hospitals, clinics and labs.

“We are a powerful force for justice,” said AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride. “We are a tidal wave that’s going to rock those UC bosses. We are united in this fight because when bosses mess with one of us, they mess with all of us.”

AFSCME members want a new collective bargaining agreement that addresses the cost-of-living and housing-affordability crises that are plaguing front-line workers, and they had been bargaining with their employer for more than six months.

“The University of California has publicly acknowledged a staff vacancy crisis that ultimately threatens the quality of services it can deliver to its students and patients,” said Local 3299 President Michael Avant. “This is a function of UC’s overall failure to compete in the labor market, its failure to pay front-line workers enough to keep pace with rising costs, and its total refusal to commit to the housing-affordability solutions workers need in order to live near their jobs.”

Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Yvonne Wheeler added, “Make no mistake: a win for AFSCME Local 3299 is a win for all of us because when our essential workers are given what they need, they can continue to provide the care we need without worrying about their housing. Our labor should come with the ability to have a roof over our heads in the neighborhoods we call home.”