The UPTE Update: Happy May Day; Workers Reverse Layoffs at UCI Health

May 8

Welcome to The UPTE Update, a monthly newsletter from University Professional and Technical Employees.

UPTE workers reverse layoffs at UCI Health

When we fight back, we win.

On the morning of March 23, dozens of UC Irvine Health frontline healthcare workers were stunned to find layoff notices in their inboxes — at the same time that UCI Health was investing billions in expansions and acquisitions.

UPTE got to work, blasting the news to the press and organizing a rally at UCI Health.

Local media covered the layoffs, and UPTE signaled publicly that UCI could face legal action. Within days, UPTE members who were impacted—eight healthcare quality improvement specialists—had their layoffs rescinded, with UCI apologizing for the “oversight.” The local press covered the reversal, too. Since then, UPTE has recovered two more positions for our members.

Workers secure clinic funding in Sacramento

The CAARE (Child and Adolescent Abuse Resource and Evaluation) Diagnostic and Treatment Center in Sacramento serves the most vulnerable in our society: children who have been abused, trafficked, or victimized by violent crime. In February, UPTE member Issamar Morfin, a mental health therapist, learned that funding for the clinic was suddenly on the chopping block.

“Our Medi-Cal contract, out of nowhere, was terminated. We were so shocked because the CAARE center has had this contract for over 20 years,” Morfin said.
The upshot: This would have meant significant layoffs and the termination of programs for children who depend on the clinic.

Morfin turned to UPTE representatives for help. “Before all of this... I felt like a passive member in the process. After connecting with [UPTE unit rep] Taylor Baldwin and having the support of UPTE, it empowered me to identify myself as a person who is in charge of making things happen.”

Working with UPTE, Morfin and her co-workers organized a call-in campaign and identified an upcoming Sacramento Board of Supervisors meeting at which the supervisors could address the clinic’s funding shortfall.

Taking action: Together, they made flyers, circulated information on social media, and generated roughly 1,000 calls to supervisors’ offices.
The result: It worked. Because of our efforts to highlight CAARE’s critical importance, the supervisors replenished the clinic’s funding from a different fund. Reflecting on her experience, Morfin felt relieved that “someone cares and has our back.”

An engineer’s fight saves her job

Jane, a research and development engineer at UC Davis, was on track to renew her research contract with her professor. As she was filling out her timesheet, a message popped up.

“It told me I was out of a job. I was like, what?” she said.

Dismayed and confused, Jane inquired with the administration, who told her to wait three weeks because of a “hiring freeze.” After those three weeks, they told her to keep on waiting.

All the while, Jane kept working. Her professor suggested that she contact UPTE. Our UC Davis Chapter Co-Chair and statewide treasurer, Amy Fletcher, began making phone calls.

“It’s about contract enforcement,” said Fletcher. “She should have been previously converted to career staff before she was let go.”

With UPTE’s support, Fletcher worked with employee labor relations to ensure Jane was converted to a career position and given back pay. “They were trying to not give her the January step [wage] increase, but we got that as well,” Fletcher said.

What should we fight for? It’s up to you!

UPTE is a member-led union. Our power comes from taking collective action on the issues most important to our 25,000 workers. For two years, we waged an all-out campaign to secure a strong contract for our members, delivering wage increases to combat inflation, stronger job security, expanded parental leave, and more.

We are continuing to fight and win workplace and profession-specific issues that weren’t fully addressed in our statewide contract, such as differentials, on-call pay, and reclassification.

However, we are all facing challenges that our employer can’t fix, such as a lack of affordable housing, high childcare costs, rising healthcare premiums, and attacks on immigrants.

We are organizing meetings in departments across the state to touch base on workplace issues and distill our priorities as a union, as we develop plans to address these bigger issues.

If you haven’t had a meeting in your department, please reach out to your unit representative or UPTE organizer to make sure your group meets to discuss your priorities in the workplace and beyond.

Happy May Day/International Workers’ Day

On May 1, 1886, hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers walked off the job demanding an eight-hour workday. In Chicago, the strike wave culminated in the Haymarket massacre, a moment of brutal repression that was intended to silence workers for good. Instead, it rekindled a movement. May 1 is recognized by workers around the world as International Workers’ Day, a day to honor those who sacrificed and recommit to the work they left unfinished.

That work continues today. Across California, UPTE members were out in full force this week with a clear message: workers over billionaires.