UC workers strike over hiring freeze but plan to return to bargaining table
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UC WORKERS STRIKE OVER HIRING FREEZE
Hundreds of University of California employees walked off the job and marched in the streets near the Capitol Thursday to protest the university’s decision to institute a systemwide hiring freeze last month.
The striking workers, whose ranks were bolstered by the presence of several other local unions, argued UC committed an unfair labor practice by failing to bargain with the union over the unilateral hiring freeze.
The university announced the decision to stop hiring in March, citing proposed cuts to UC’s $54 billion budget and the Trump administration’s threats to withhold federal funding to universities.
Since University Professional and Technical Employees’ contract with the university system expired in September 2024, negotiations to draft a new agreement have been contentious.
Thursday’s strike marked the union’s fourth work stoppage to draw attention to the staffing crisis and secure a better contract for university employees who work in healthcare, technical and research fields.
“I want to take care of my patients but I also need to take care of myself,” Heidi Miller, an optometrist who works at the UC Davis Eye Center, said in Sacramento’s John C. Fremont Park on Thursday. Because of the limited number of optometrists in her office, Miller said, “If I call out sick, my patients are rescheduled to August.”
The university system has maintained that there is not a staffing crisis. Rather, UC stated in a fact sheet that the headcount for UPTE-represented employees has increased in recent years.
“We are disappointed by the union’s continued choice of striking as a negotiation tactic,” UC President Michael V. Drake’s office said in a statement. “These strikes cost union members a full day of pay, and they cost the University system millions of dollars.”
UC and UPTE announced both will return to the bargaining table on May 8.
Members from several other unions, including the California Nurses Association, SEIU Local 1000 and the California Federation of Teachers, marched in solidarity with UPTE-represented workers.
Also present at the rally were current and former California Democratic lawmakers. Labor Committee Chair Assemblywoman Liz Ortega, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi and former Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins spoke in support of the striking workers.
CALIFORNIA EXODUS NO MORE
Via Lia Russell…
California added 108,000 new residents last year according to the state Department of Finance, a statistic Gov. Gavin Newsom trumpeted as a turnaround from the population decline the state suffered during the pandemic.
There are now 39,529,000 people in the Golden State as of Jan. 1, an increase from last year’s estimate of 39.1 million residents. The department cited several factors that showed growth, including higher K-8 student enrollment, an increase in the senior citizen population and more births.
Newsom also said improved data showed that California welcomed 278,000 more immigrants between 2021 and 2024 than previously thought. He took a shot at President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which he has made the focal point of California’s resistance against the White House in the weeks since he and Attorney General Rob Bonta sued to stop them from going into effect.
“People from across the nation and the globe are coming to the Golden State to pursue the California Dream, where rights are protected and people are respected,” the governor said in a statement.
“We’ll continue to cut tape, invest in people, and seek real results from government to ensure we build on this momentum – all of which are at risk with the extreme and uncertain tariffs.”
PADILLA WANTS ANSWERS ABOUT EL SALVADOR DEPORTATIONS
Via David Lightman…
Sen. Alex Padilla and other Senate Democrats will make sure the Senate votes on a resolution to look into the Trump Administration’s actions involving U.S. citizens or residents deported to El Salvador.
The measure, also backed by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, would “investigate El Salvador’s human rights abuses and the Trump Administration’s compliance with due process and court orders,” according to a statement from Padilla’s office.
Padilla, D-California, and other Democrats have been critical of the deportation and detaining of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. A federal judge said he was wrongfully deported to El Salvador and that he should come back to the United States, but the administration says it’s unable to do so.
The senators want a report that the Padilla statement would detail “any steps the Administration is taking to ensure compliance with court orders applicable to U.S. citizens or residents wrongfully deported by the United States to El Salvador; confirming whether U.S. security assistance has been used to support the illegal detention of U.S. residents, and assessing El Salvador’s human rights record.”
If the administration did not produce that report, federal law would bar security aid to El Salvador.
“As the Trump Administration upends due process to wrongfully deport people to El Salvador, we must restore fundamental civil liberties, end the inhumane treatment of all detainees, and ensure freedom from oppression for everyone in El Salvador,” said Padilla, the top Democrat on the Senate subcommittee on border security and immigration.
The resolution’s chances are uncertain because Republicans control 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Is Buddha needed for Buddhism?”
— Elon Musk answering reporters’ questions about who would fill his position at the Department of Government Efficiency as he plans to spend less time in Washington D.C.
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This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
