Restraining Order Still Being Sought to Block Strike by UC Hospital Workers

A UCSD spokeswoman said Monday that the University of California is still in the process of seeking a restraining order against patient care and service employees set to strike at UC medical centers May 21-22.

“Further detail is not available,” said Jacqueline Carr for UCSD Health Sciences in La Jolla.

But she shared a statement that declared: “Strikes that pose a substantial and imminent threat to public health or safety are illegal under state law. UC believes a strike targeting UC medical centers would pose an imminent threat to public health and safety and would improperly withhold health care from members of the public.”

The union—American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299—responded on its website:

All hospital workers have the right to strike, and our union will defend this no matter what. UC will try and mislead workers about our 2008 strike, including saying the strike is illegal and workers and patients will be negatively affected. Remember, no individual worker lost their license, lost their job or was negatively affected because they went on strike in 2008. And the 2008 strike does not determine the legality of a strike in 2013.

UC also said state law requires that strikes be considered only as a last resort after all other options have been exhausted.

“UC believes AFSCME has not explored all options in good faith through the bargaining process,” said a statement issued Friday.

Dwaine Duckett, vice president for systemwide human resources at UC, said: “It is highly inappropriate for AFSCME to threaten services to patients as a tactic in negotiations about pension benefit reforms.

“Other UC unions representing 14 bargaining units have agreed to our pension reforms, which also apply to faculty and non-union staff. AFSCME wants special treatment, which is unfair to the rest of the UC workforce.”

UC says it has been in negotiations with AFSCME since June 2012 over terms of a new labor contract for UC’s 12,500 patient care employees.

UC says the key issue in the talks is the union’s “ongoing resistance” to UC’s pension reforms, which include:

• Increased contributions toward the cost of pension benefits from both UC and employees (currently 10 and 5 percent respectively, increasing to 12 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, July 1, 2013).
• A new category (“tier”) of pension benefits for employees hired on or after July 1, 2013.
• Revised eligibility rules for retiree health benefits.

“Like many other employers, including the state of California, UC is enacting substantive pension reforms to help the university address a $24 billion pension fund liability, and enable it to continue offering employees financially sustainable pension benefits,” said Friday’s statement.

Duckett added: “We think our current proposal that includes wage increases and good benefits is very fair, and our pension reforms are similar to what has been implemented for state employees, some of whom are represented by AFSCME.

“AFSCME is demanding its members pay less than other UC faculty and staff for the same benefits, which is unfair to other employees.”

UC says it is offering a “competitive” four-year contract for UC patient care employees that includes up to 3.5 percent wage increase per year for four years.

UCSD’s student newspaper, The Guardian, reported that AFSCME communications director Todd Stenhouse noted that UC executives have raised their salaries by $100 million since 2009 and “are guilty of prioritizing their own wallets over patient safety.”

“The idea that a small group of executives who have diverted millions of dollars of taxpayer money to their already overstuffed pockets would make the claim that we’re sacrificing patient care does not even begin to pass the smell test,” Stenhouse was quoted as saying.