Missed our 2024 Pre-Bargaining Town Hall? View a recording here.

Thanks to everyone who joined our pre-bargaining town hall last night. There was such demand to get in that we had to upgrade our Zoom account to accommodate everyone—while this is a fantastic problem to have, it does mean that folks who tried to join in the first ten minutes may not have been able to get into the meeting.

As a result, we're sharing a recording here with everyone who had RSVP'ed so that you can watch it at your leisure and also share with your colleagues.

Max Belasco, an IT worker at UCLA, asked, "Can someone tell me in the chat what UC loves to say when we come to them and ask them to address our issues like worker retention, staffing, or below-market pay? That's right. When we ask UC to address our concerns, which ultimately impact our patients, our students, and our research, they pretend they don't have the money. Nothing could be further from the truth, as UC continues to spend billions on hospital acquisitions, hand out generous raises to Chancellors and CEOs, and hire more and more top administrators."

"Every action we take between now and winning a new contract is about demonstrating to the boss that we have the unity to pull off a super majority strike statewide," said Anastasia Vourakis, a Physical Therapist at UC Davis (pictured center). "Now I know 15,000 people sounds like a big number, but if each of our leaders statewide talks to an average of only 10 people, we will hit a super majority of our coworkers across the system."

Ben Dictor, the attorney helping lead UPTE's negotiations with UC, closed out the program by saying, "I would argue to you that no great contract has ever been won at the bargaining table. Contracts are won on the shop floor and on the picket line when it's necessary. A lot of people in my position don't say that. They want to let you think that there's some magic words that can be said or there are some sly tactics. But the best proposals and the best bargaining strategy in the world won't do anything for you if you don't have the solidarity of the membership behind you."