UC workers, Berkeley teachers among the May Day protests in Bay Area
UC workers, Berkeley teachers among the May Day protests in Bay Area
May Day protests are planned across the country and the Bay Area on Thursday to highlight unfair labor practices to short staffing.
BERKELEY, Calif. - May Day protests are planned across the country and the Bay Area on Thursday to highlight unfair labor practices and short staffing.
Healthcare, research and tech workers at the University of California are holding some of the larger demonstrations as a statewide one-day strike for professional and technical employees.
May Day is a day commemorating the historic struggles made by workers and the labor movement celebrated on May 1.
Those employees range from hospital technicians to research assistants who have long complained about short staffing and rising healthcare costs.
This is the third statewide strike held by UC workers since the start of the year.
In San Francisco, UPTE & AFSCME 3299 workers will picket at UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay.
UPTE union President Dan Russell said negotiations for a new contract have gone on for about a year with little progress with the UC system, which affects about 20,000 union members.
"Clinical trials being canceled or paused,"Russell noted. "Clinics closing doors to patients, students waiting longer for appointments with therapists, patients waiting longer in emergency rooms, going into crisis or worse."
Russell said he is also upset at the UC system's hiring freeze that contributes to its short staffing.
UC leaders criticize the union for costing its membership a day's worth of pay and the system millions of dollars over a strike, arguing they've offered a competitive contract.
The two sides are set to return to the negotiating table next week.
Meanwhile, in Berkeley, teachers in the district will mark in the afternoon calling for better contracts with more staffing and student stability.