This post was updated Nov. 13 at 1:37 a.m.

The University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America 9119 will strike at UC San Francisco on Nov. 20 and 21. 

The move comes after the union, which represents research and technical workers, voted to authorize a strike over alleged unfair labor practices committed by the UC. Voters approved the strike by 98%, according to the UPTE-CWA 9119 website.

Max Belasco, chapter co-chair of UPTE-CWA 9119 at UCLA, said the strike relates to the UC’s failure to bargain with the union over issues such as compensation. The contract between the University and UPTE-CWA 9119 has now expired, he added, saying the two must settle a new one.

“It’s regarding bargaining – we don’t feel that things have been moving along,” he said. “Our members really deserve to have a fair contract.”

However, in a statement to its website, the UC said it has bargained in good faith, noting the university’s financial offer to the union. This proposal would increase employee salaries by 5% during the contract’s first year and raise wages for all UPTE-CWA 9119 employees to $25 an hour by July, according to the statement.

“UPTE’s announcement to strike at UC San Francisco is premature and not consistent with the hard work that continues at the table to reach a fair agreement,” the statement said. 

[Related: UPTE-CWA 9119 to vote on strike Oct. 21 after ‘insufficient’ UC bargaining]

The strike is initially limited to give the UC a chance to bargain in good faith, said UPTE-CWA President Dan Russell in a statement on the union’s website. However, he added in the statement that workers across the state – not just at UCSF – should be prepared to strike if the University chooses not to act. 

The union filed an unfair labor practice charge Oct. 11 with the California Public Employment Relations Board over two claims. 

In the ULP charge, the union alleged that the University unilaterally implemented health care increases, evading bargaining. The University proposed a $100 and $75 health care subsidy for workers in the lowest pay bands in exchange for the current $25 cap on annual health care premium increases.

This would increase health care payments for those in bands three and four while also giving the UC power to shift costs onto its workers by eliminating the price cap, union members say.

“This type of unilateral imposition would dramatically increase health care, the cost of health care,” Belasco said. “That’s really brought us over to this position, unfortunately.”

In the statement to its website, the UC said health care premiums for UPTE-CWA 9119 members will not potentially change until contract negotiations are finalized. However, it added in the statement that medical costs will increase for some plans in 2025.

The ULP charge also claimed that the UC has failed to provide UPTE-CWA 9119 with a list of vacant positions in its bargaining units – which it is legally required to do – over a year and a half after requesting them. Russel said in the statement that staff retention is crucial in the health care industry, adding that he believes the UC left these positions unfilled to save money. 

“In the emergency room, sufficient staffing is the difference between life and death,” he said on the website. “Our laboratory and clinical researchers report that turnover and loss of institutional knowledge slows the pace of the important work we help advance to tackle some of the most pressing medical and scientific issues of our time.”

Belasco said the strike hopes to show the UC that the union is committed to the well-being of its members.

“We have to demonstrate to the UC that we are very serious about the people that we represent,” he said.