This post was updated Oct 17 at 11:45 p.m.

The University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America 9119 will conduct a strike authorization vote Oct. 21 in response to alleged unfair labor practices by the UC.

The union, which represents research and technical workers, claimed the University failed to meet its demands, withheld information regarding staffing and unilaterally raised employee healthcare costs throughout the bargaining process. Only selected campuses – which union leadership will announce the day of the referendum – will participate in the vote and, if authorized, the strike.

“We have been meeting with the University for four months now,” said UPTE-CWA 9119 President Dan Russell in a video posted to the union’s Instagram. “Unfortunately, their unfair labor practices have prevented us from moving towards an agreement that will address the crisis of recruitment and retention that we are seeing across UC.”

However, in an emailed statement to the Daily Bruin, UC Office of the President spokesperson Heather Hansen rejected the union’s claims that the UC negotiated in bad faith. She said in the statement that UPTE-CWA 9119 consistently rejected the University’s proposals, adding that it appeared the union had decided to strike before negotiations even began.

“For months, UPTE has touted it was gearing up to strike, while at the same time, our negotiation teams continued to bargain in good faith, fastidiously collaborating across the system to create meaningful proposals,” Hansen said in the statement. “It seems like no matter what we presented at the table, striking was a foregone conclusion.”

UPTE-CWA 9119 and the UC began contract bargaining in June 2024, the first of 18 scheduled sessions. Throughout July negotiations, the union claimed on its website that the UC had disregarded its proposals on reclassification, work-life balance and holidays.

“We’ve sent some meaningful proposals as far as vacation and reclass and all these other important things that we want,” UPTE-CWA 9119 Bargaining Team member Jonathan Bradford said in a statement posted on the UPTE-CWA 9119 website. “Guess what their response has been? No. In fact, the vacation proposal that they gave us back wasn’t even finished!”

The union also claimed that the UC refused to provide it with staffing information it was legally entitled to. In the video posted to the union’s Instagram, Russell said despite requesting the data 18 months ago, the UC has failed to give the union a list of vacant positions in its bargaining units amidst a staffing crisis.

During its fifth bargaining meeting Aug. 16, the UC put forth a wage increase plan for the union. The plan – which the UC called “historic” – proposed that the minimum wage for union members rise to $25 by July 2025, and that wages for UPTE-CWA 9119 members rise by 5% in 2025, 3% in 2026 and either 2% or 3% in 2027 depending on the state budget allocation, in 2025, 2026 and 2027, respectively.

However, members of the union said this compensation proposal was insufficient, claiming that it was not enough of an increase to make up for inflation effects.

“We have kept UC running these past years even while costs of living have skyrocketed,” said UCSF Lab Assistant Lalaine Rojo in a statement posted on the UPTE-CWA 9119 website. “UC’s is proposing to keep my family in poverty, and force our colleagues to decide between a dignified life and staying at UC.”

The union continued to express dissatisfaction with the UC throughout the bargaining process, alleging that the UC showed no interest in reaching an agreement before the union’s contract expired. On Oct. 3 and 4, the UC proposed increases in healthcare costs, prompting leaders of the union to request that members fill out a strike pledge.

Following the UC’s alleged refusal to share data on staff vacancies and the new healthcare proposal, UPTE-CWA 9119 filed an unfair labor practice charge Oct. 11. The proposal would replace the current $25 cap on annual healthcare premium increases on certain plans in exchange for a $100 and $75 subsidy for workers in the two lowest pay bands, according to the UPTE-CWA 9119 website.

The union claimed that these subsidies would increase healthcare payments for those in pay bands three and four and, by eliminating the healthcare premium cap, give the UC power to shift an unchecked amount of cost onto its workers in following years.

In a video posted to the union’s Instagram announcing the strike authorization vote, Russell accused the UC of bargaining for show rather than to make an agreement. He also criticized the UC’s prioritization of spending, citing the UC Board of Regents’ approval of raises of at least 40% for its chancellors during its September meeting.

“Where did UC get all that money?” he said in the video. “That’s what we’d like to know.”