This post was updated March 21 at 12:43 p.m.

Two UC unions representing nearly 60,000 workers called on their members to strike across the University on April 1.

The University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America 9119, which represents research and technical workers, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents service, patient care and skilled crafts workers, announced the strike Friday. This is the third time the two unions will strike in over four months in response to alleged unfair labor practices by the University.

AFSCME Local 3299 said it was striking in solidarity with UPTE-CWA 9119 in a Friday Instagram post. AFSCME Local 3299 began contract negotiations in January 2024 – five months before UPTE-CWA 9119 – and neither union has reached a contract agreement with the UC.

“Like us, they have been affected by UC’s bad-faith bargaining, which has been preventing them from reaching a fair and just contract,” the post said. “We won’t stand by.”

[Related: Thousands of workers from AFSCME 3299 and UPTE-CWA 9119 to strike across UC]

UC Office of the President spokesperson Heather Hansen said in an emailed statement that the unions’ strikes cost the University system millions of dollars, exacerbating current financial pressures on the UC.

“At a time when the University of California is facing funding reductions at both the state and federal levels and preparing for significant financial challenges ahead, we are concerned about UPTE and AFSCME’s plans to strike again,” she said in the statement. These strikes put a significant financial strain on UC.”

Both unions struck in February, which led to dining hall closures and limited custodial services. Over a thousand members of both unions marched down Westwood Boulevard several times during the strike, moving as far as Wilshire Boulevard and blocking traffic in both directions at times. 

[Related: AFSCME Local 3299, UPTE-CWA 9119 march across UCLA campus, disrupting dining halls]

UPTE-CWA 9119 has alleged that the University has failed to address a staffing crisis, which exacerbated union members’ workloads and lengthened wait times for patients. The union claimed in a press release announcing the strike that the UC has not released vacancy rates by job classification for over two years.

“Staffing issues at UC have led to negative patient outcomes, threatened the state’s bird flu response, delayed care for at-risk patients, and impacted research on diseases like cancer,” the press release said. “Despite a barrage of reports and testimony pointing to a system-wide staffing crisis, the University of California’s Office of the President (UCOP) has actively sought to cloud the issue.”

The union filed its most recent unfair labor practice charge March 17, which alleged that the UC created new classifications of workers to displace people from the union.

“The University has created more and more new classifications that share a community of interest with existing UPTE bargaining units but placed them outside of UPTE’s units, gradually eroding the union’s natural growth over time,” the ULP charge said. 

It further alleged that the University unilaterally increased healthcare premiums for UPTE-CWA 9119 members by initially promising that premiums would remain the same until the two parties reached a contract agreement, but then implemented increases in January 2025 despite a bargaining agreement still not being reached.

Max Belasco, a co-chair of UPTE-CWA 9119’s UCLA chapter, said he believes members of the University have bargained in bad faith, showing up to sessions disengaged and introducing proposals that do not meet the union’s needs. 

Todd Stenhouse, a spokesperson for AFSCME 3299, said the University has failed to address an “affordability crisis” that the union is facing at the bargaining table. Stenhouse added that the UC “bypassed” the bargaining process to impose higher health care rates on union members.

Stenhouse said that affordability issues are contributing to union members leaving their jobs, creating a vacancy crisis.

“Instead of having one person devoted to your building, now you have one person devoted to four buildings,” he said. “There’s a real effect here – it increases the possibility of mistakes. It increases the possibility of injuries on the job.”

However, Hansen added in the statement that the UC has offered “strong” proposals, including competitive wage increases, reduced healthcare premiums for lower-paid workers and expanded sick leave and vacation.

“It’s disheartening to hear mischaracterizations of our positions and actions during these negotiations, as we’ve been genuinely trying to find solutions that work for everyone,” she said in the statement.

Around 20 members of AFSCME Local 3299 protested at the UC Board of Regents meeting Wednesday, chanting, “UC greed has got to go” following the public comment portion of the meeting. UCPD officers in riot gear entered the building, standing in front of a group of the union members and declaring the demonstration an “unlawful assembly.”

The union members left the room shortly after police arrived.