Yeri Mercedes passes out soda to strikers. He said he had been there since 5 a.m.
Workers placed their picket signs in a pile while they took a break for lunch.
Police officers overlook the union strike from the roof of the Wendy and Leonard Goldberg Medical Building.
Union strikers eat lunch provided by fellow staffers as they anticipate the noon rally.
Union workers sat wherever they could to eat lunch, wrapping around Ronald Reagan medical center.
The UC Student-Workers Union, which represents more than 18,000 student workers, teaching assistants and tutors in the UC, marched in solidarity with UPTE-CWA.
Behind several union representatives who spoke before him, Sen. Bernie Sanders waits in the shade and anticipates a crowd of 400 crowded in the medical plaza.
Students and other audience members began crowding around the corner of Le Conte and Westwood as they awaited the noon rally.
Sanders said he didn't come to the rally to speak as a presidential candidate, but hoping to have a say in decisions regarding labor rights in the near future.
Union workers raised their fists in solidarity, clapping in agreement as speakers spoke about wage inequality and fair labor.
Fourth-year sociology student Maxwell Peterson (left) and second-year biology student Caroline LaPlaca listen to Sanders' speech.
Sanders urged the UC to negotiate a fair contract with unions and commended workers for their fight.