UC Davis Health workers strike for higher wages, lower medical costs
Hundreds of health care workers protested outside UC Davis Health on Stockton Boulevard Wednesday, calling for higher wages and lower health care costs.
Workers described working multiple jobs and struggling to cover expenses.
Aaron Metcalf, a 45-year-old patient transporter from Elk Grove, said he runs a laundry service with his wife to help make ends meet. His family had to downsize, recently, after their rent increased. Samuel Coronel, a 43-year-old storekeeper lead from Citrus Heights, said he works a second job as a dishwasher at a hotel.
“For us, it’s a living wage that allows us to live with dignity,” Coronel said. “That allows me to live within the area that I work.”
The UC system said in a statement that its current offer would raise the minimum wage for its lowest-paid AFSCME employees to $25 an hour by July 1.
The two-day strike was part of a broader walkout of University of California workers represented by The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. Similar actions were planned at UC sites across the state. The union represents more than 37,000 people in California, including 6,000 at UC Davis.
The hospital has rescheduled some non-urgent procedures in light of the strike. UC Davis Health said in a statement that, “with relatively few employees on the picket line, we do not expect disruptions to patient care.”
At around noon on Wednesday, more than 200 people were gathered outside the hospital to protest.
The union said earlier this week that it has a task force of health care workers prepared to return to work in the case of serious emergencies. Workers said they carefully weighed the decision to participate in a strike.
“Every one of us have thought carefully about the impact of our decision to come out here,” said Tess Stroud, a hospital lab technician in the eye care center. “Today we’re out here. The next few days we’ll be working harder, seeing more patients.”
Contract talks have been ongoing since January, and the previous agreement covering the guild’s two bargaining units expired in July and October. Last month the union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the university system, alleging that it increased workers’ health care costs outside of bargaining and failed to provide information necessary for negotiations.
The university system has called the union’s allegations “meritless,” and said it has offered a “robust economic proposal” that includes health care premium subsidies for lower-wage workers.
UC Davis Health said in a statement that it has offered raises of nearly 27%, and health care premium credits of $75 or $100 per month.
The strike began at 12 a.m. Wednesday, and is scheduled to end at midnight Thursday.
This story was originally published November 20, 2024 at 2:38 PM.
