Is UC ready to bargain in good faith?

Our unfair labor practice strike on April 1 forced UC executives to admit to California legislators in a March 31st communique, that "the strikes in November and February cost UC tens of millions of dollars each day to staff our medical centers and campuses." This is presumably in addition to lost revenues from things like cancelled surgeries, which are likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Why does UC continue to provoke costly, disruptive strikes at the same time that announces a hiring freeze based on supposed financial uncertainty? UC executives are panicked about the power and determination of our campaign and are saying whatever they can to try to slow us down.

This week, UPTE filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge over the University's imposition of the hiring freeze, which would further undermine patient care, research, and education across the state. UC knows what it has to do to avoid further strikes - end its unfair labor practices and bargain in good faith with all UPTE members over our proposals to end the recruitment and retention crisis.

We are also continuing to meet with elected officials at all levels to push UC to reset their priorities and get our negotiations back on track.

Check out coverage of Tuesday's strike from across California, including outlets like KQED, the San Francisco Examiner, KCAL News Los Angeles, KION546 News Central Coast, ABC10 San Diego, CBS News Sacramento and stay tuned for next steps.