Nearly 25,000 University of California Service and Patient Care Technical workers have threatened a strike on Wednesday to protest Unfair Labor Practice (ULP).
Represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299, the union alleged the university of outsourcing jobs to lower-wage private contractors.
Last month, union members filed six new unfair labor practice complaints University of violating its internal wage and procurement policies, and its collective bargaining agreements in connection with its outsourcing of university jobs to lower-wage contractors.
“By secretly working to expand outsourcing of service and patient care jobs, the University of California is unilaterally imposing lower wages, more inequality, and more risk of employer abuse against its most vulnerable workers—mostly women and people of color,” AFSCME 3299 ULP Committee Member Monica De Leon said in a release.
“This is not just morally bankrupt, unfair and unsafe for the students and patients who depend on the work we do—it is illegal. And we will not rest until this lawlessness stops.”
The complaints allege the university of entering or renewing 25 contracts with outsourcing companies and amending them without notifying or bargaining with affected university employees.
It also alleged the university of using secret contract renewals to evade internal requirements that require UC to stop outsourcing work through contracts designed to save money on wages.
The workers will suspend work at all 10 University of California campuses and five Medical Centers.