Curtis Boelke, a mental health practitioner at UCLA and a member of AFSCME Local 3299, said he is striking because of safety concerns due to hospital staffing shortages. He attributed his unit’s poor staff retention rates in recent years to UC’s low pay for patient care workers.

“Staff can get hurt – they’re not able to do the job safely. We’re doing two or three jobs at once,” Boelke said. “It affects patient care because when we don’t have enough staff, we’re not able to meet their needs properly in a timely manner.”