STRIKE NOV 17 & 18

When UCLA took over the West Valley Medical Center (formerly West Hills Hospital) last year, they made a lot of promises. One of them was that per diem workers would not lose their current pay rate or seniority in the transition.

However, when some per diem workers received their first UCLA paycheck, they were shocked to discover their pay had plummeted. This was not what was promised. 

Mediation with UC over our contract continues to be productive and will continue on Monday and Tuesday of next week. While our goal remains to reach a settlement prior to a strike, we must continue preparing for a strike to become a necessity.

Also, UC has imposed its proposed January 2025 step and July 2025 5% across-the-board and $25/hr minimum wage - with full retroactivity.

This imposition is a down payment on a good contract - and we need to use it to help us prepare to strike in larger numbers and for longer, if necessary. In 2019, UC imposed a raise in June. By August, we had a fair contract.

UC administrators have the power to avoid a strike by addressing the crisis of recruitment and retention with a fair contract that reflects your priorities. UC's move to unilaterally impose a raise shows they are feeling the pressure. Let's use UC's attempt to buy us off as a down payment for the contract we deserve.

UC has requested confidential mediation over our ongoing bargaining and UPTE has agreed to meet on October 17th, 23rd, and 24th. 

We do not know what - if anything - will come of mediation, but it is clear that UC's request to meet is a result of the momentum of our powerful strike vote and the imminent threat of the largest strike in UC history.

Mediation is confidential - similar to our mediation in January - unless either party makes a formal proposal. We will share any progress or lack thereof, as soon as possible following mediation.

The urgent task for all UPTE members is to continue preparing to strike. Make sure all of your coworkers have a plan to communicate their strike readiness to management and a plan to arrive together to the picketline if a strike is called.

UC laid off several workers at Children's Hospital Oakland, including some of our UPTE colleagues. This is outrageous: Children's Hospital provides a vital service to the East Bay community. These layoffs will exacerbate the burden on patients in Oakland who desperately need our help.

To make matters even worse, just yesterday, UC unlawfully and abruptly laid off twenty researchers advancing potential treatments and drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, multiple system atrophy, and prion diseases.

These callous layoffs will have serious consequences on public health: 50 million people globally suffer from a neurodegenerative disease. If UC won't stand up for research, we will. That's why we are rallying outside the UCSF Sandler Neurosciences Center this Wednesday, October 15, at noon, to let management know that we won't give up on science.

I urge you to join us in fighting back against these assaults on lifesaving research and patient care.

We have learned over the last 15 months that we won't get answers from UC at the bargaining table. We will only get answers—and the contract we deserve—by showing UC that we aren't going to be tricked into backing down from our fight.

UC wants us to think that their "Last, Best, Final" offer is a great deal. What is the truth?

1. UC has the money—and has never explained its opposition to UPTE's proposals, including those that are low or no cost.

2. UC's offer would allow for unlimited hikes to our healthcare costs.

3. UC's economic proposals would leave all of us further and further behind our colleagues.

If you have questions about UC's "Last, Best, Final Offer," contact your Bargaining Team Representative or Organizer today.

More than 10,000 UPTE members have voted, with 97% in favor of authorizing a strike - even more than in our previous strike vote in February!

This sends yet another strong message to UC executives, who still have time to come back to the table with proposals that address UPTE members' priorities for resolving the crisis of recruitment and retention and prioritizing patient care, research, and education.

A strike could be announced at any time. The length of a strike will only be known when the strike is announced, which will be 10 days in advance of any strike that includes a UC hospital.

Our strike vote is now open! Go here to vote now and encourage all of your colleagues to do the same.

A YES vote will send a clear message to UC: we are prepared to strike for as long as it takes to win the changes we need to continue delivering world-class healthcare, doing world-class research, and providing world-class education.

Instead of working with frontline workers to protect public healthcare, research, and education, UC executives are negotiating with the federal government behind closed doors. That's why UPTE joined with other UC unions and academic organizations to file a lawsuit against the government's extortion attempt.

The most important thing each of us can do is vote to strike and prepare to be on the picket lines for a longer strike, if that is what it takes to convince UC to invest in frontline workers.

UC has threatened to impose its "Last, Best and Final Offer" (LBFO)—review how far behind that offer would leave us and how much more we won in 2019 after UC's LBFO.

The University of California is sitting on $26 billion in liquid and short-term capital and $41 billion in endowments.¹ While leadership enjoys generous pay increases and boasts of strong financial growth, they leave the patients, students, and workers of UC to make do with less and less.

The cost of UC’s misplaced priorities is high. The question is, will we let them make us keep footing the bill?

“We love our patients, and that’s why we went into this field. We only want to provide the best possible care for these animals, but when we’re short-staffed, we can miss things. We just want to be able to live up to our reputation as the #1 veterinary hospital and provide the care people expect from us,” said LaShell Alpaugh, a Registered Vet. Tech. at UC Davis.

🔗 You can also download this information for social media and explore our other research on UC’s role in the staffing crisis.

Don't be confused by the term "Last, Best, and Final" offer. In 2019, we beat UC's attempt to cut the pension, won significantly more in raises and daily overtime pay by continuing to fight - and strike - following UC's Last, Best, and Final Offer (LBFO) and imposition.

UC is likely to impose a raise, along with their proposed healthcare cuts, without UPTE's agreement, in an attempt to confuse us and keep us from having a powerful strike.

We can't let that stop us from continuing our fight for our patients, our research, and or our students. Make sure all of your co-workers are committed to voting to strike on the first day of our vote - September 22nd - and are ready for a longer strike, if necessary!

Make sure all of your co-workers are committed to voting to strike on the first day of our vote - September 22nd - and are ready for a longer strike, if necessary!