Twenty thousand University of California healthcare, research, and technical professionals, represented by the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE), will participate in a statewide Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike on Feb. 26-28. The strike will take place across UC campuses, hospitals, and laboratories, including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Workers are walking out in response to multiple ULP violations, as the University of California attempts to silence whistleblowers speaking out about the staffing crisis affecting students, patient care, and research. UPTE members have been bargaining for eight months, with all contracts having expired in October 2024.
UC San Diego workers will gather at Jacobs Medical Center, 9300 Campus Point Drive, on Wednesday and Thursday from 7 a.m.-1 p.m. with an 11:30 a.m. midday rally.
Among the workers preparing to strike are physician assistants, optometrists, pharmacists, RN case managers, rehabilitation specialists, mental health clinicians, clinical lab scientists, staff research associates, IT analysts, and more — professionals who support UC students, provide world-class patient care at all UC hospitals and medical centers, and drive cutting-edge research on critical issues like climate change, food sustainability, virology, and genomics. Workers at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Lab (CAHFS), the only lab in California with the authority to confirm high-risk bird flu cases.
