UC workers approve strike

Patient care and service workers at the University of California have voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike at the system of five medical centers and 10 campuses in as little as 10 days.

The four-day statewide vote by members of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local No. 3299 was tallied at midnight Thursday and announced Friday morning. About 97.5 percent of the service staff who participated in the vote and 96.9 percent of patient-care staff who voted gave the union authority to call a strike.

While the union would not disclose how many votes were cast, "It's in the thousands -- it's the biggest strike vote in our local's history," said union spokesman William Schlitz.

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AFSCME represents abut 20,000 workers in the UC system, including 2,519 patient care technical workers and 1,055 service workers at University of California Davis and UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

UC and the union have been in talks over a new contract for patient care workers for 10 months; they've been working on a new contract for service workers for seven months.

Both bargaining units have been at impasse with university management since early this year. State-appointed mediators have been working with the parties for the last five months to resolve differences.

Pay is the central issue for the union, which contends UC wages have fallen behind other hospitals and community colleges.

The lack of competitive pay for patient care staff is contributing to high turnover, staffing shortages and over-reliance on temporary workers, compromising patient care, the union says. Wages for service staff, which go as low as $10 an hour, force employees to work two or three jobs to meet their families' basic needs, union leaders allege.

"No serious offers are coming in," said Schlitz. "They're hiding behind the state budget." The state of California faces a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall in the year ahead andUC has already begun layoffs in preparation.

UC officials announced Friday plans they continue efforts to reach agreement despite the threat of a strike June 4 and 5

The union has rejected numerous UC contract extension proposals for patient care and service employees amounting to more than $18 million in annualized wages and related costs, university officials say. The existing contract between UC and the patient care unit expired Sept. 30, 2007; the service contract expired Jan. 31.

"We keep reiterating that we don't think a strike is going to help us reach an agreement, and that we are ready and willing to schedule mediation," said UC spokeswoman Nicole Savickas.