Los Angeles, November 21 (IANS). Nearly 40,000 health workers at the University of California (UC) have begun a two-day strike.
The American Federation of State said, “Frontline service and patient care UC employees are on strike November 20 and November 21 in protest of UC’s bargaining and unfair labor practices.”
The Association of County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3,299, a union that represents more than 35,000 service workers, patient care technical staff at UC’s 10 campuses, five medical centers, numerous clinics, research laboratories and the UC Hastings College of Law, reports Xinhua news agency. Represents employees, skilled craft workers etc.
The labor union said in a statement that the University of California has left students and patient care staff no option but to go on strike.
“Our members are the people you don’t see clearly, because the campuses are clean, the food is cooked, the students are taken care of,” Liz Pearlman, executive director of the union, said in a Facebook post.
He added, “We also need to take care.”
About 4,000 members of another labor union in the university system, University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE)-CWA Local 9119, also joined the strike.
UC officials said in a post on the social media platform
UC officials said in a statement earlier this month that they fundamentally disagree with AFSCME’s bargaining.
University of California (UC) officials released a statement earlier this month saying they disagree with AFSCME’s claims.
“From January to May, UC and AFSCME teams met 22 times and collectively discussed various proposals,” UC officials said.
“The university’s proposals include a $700 million economic boost for labor union members and the union’s demand for a $25 hourly minimum wage or a 5 percent raise for all employees.”
-IANS
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