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  • UC nurses cancel planned strike after reaching tentative deal with university

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    A planned labor strike by University of California nurses has been called off after the university system and the nurses’ union reached a tentative deal on pay and benefits, both groups announced Sunday.

    The four-year deal, between UC and the California Nurses Assn., covers some 25,000 registered nurses working across 19 UC facilities. The two groups had been bargaining over a new contract since June.

    The deal follows another one announced on Nov. 8 between UC and the University Professional and Technical Employees union, which represents 21,000 healthcare, research and technical professionals across the UC system. Those groups had been negotiating a new contract for 17 months.

    The nurses’ union had planned to strike Monday and Tuesday in solidarity with a third union, AFSCME 3299, which represents patient care technical workers, custodians, food service employees, security guards, secretaries and other workers at UC hospitals and campuses.

    Kristan Delmarty, a registered nurse at UCLA Santa Monica and member of the nurses association’s board of directors and bargaining team, said the union “organized for and won important patient protections” in the deal — which she said nurses will vote to approve this week.

    “Going into this round of bargaining, it was our priority to ensure UC nurses were given the resources to care for our patients and ourselves after years of short-staffing and under-resourcing,” she said. “We achieved our goal and now we stand together with our AFSCME colleagues, whose essential work demands the same resources guaranteed by a fair contract.”

    The nurses association said thousands of its members still planned to join AFSCME picket lines “while not on work time.”

    UC officials also lauded the deal. Missy Matella, associate vice president for systemwide employee and labor relations, said it “reflects the tireless work and collaboration of UC’s bargaining team, medical center leaders, and systemwide leadership working hand in hand with our dedicated nurses.”

    “We’re grateful to the nurses and the CNA bargaining team for their partnership and shared commitment to what matters most: our patients and the UC community,” Matella said. “This strong, forward-looking deal honors the vital role nurses play in delivering exceptional care and advancing UC’s public service mission.”

    AFSCME 3299 was still planning to strike. On Sunday morning, it posted a video to social media of members readying strike signs.

    “When we show up together, we win together. This is for our families, our patients, and for the future we deserve!” the group wrote on X. “Members and allies, bring your energy, see you on the line!”

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    Kevin Rector

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  • UC reaches contract agreement with 21,000 employees, averting a strike

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    The University of California and a union representing 21,000 healthcare, research and technical professionals across the UC system reached a contract agreement and averted a strike, the university and union announced Saturday.

    The union, University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE), had been bargaining with UC for 17 months for a new contract, and the two sides were in mediation for three weeks. After talks broke down earlier this week, UC said UPTE approached the mediator to re-engage with the university.

    The union was set to strike Nov. 17 and 18 and be joined by more than 60,000 supporters from two additional UC unions, AFSCME 3299 and the California Nurses Assn.

    The unions said it would have been the largest labor strike in UC history. AFSCME 3299 represents patient care technical workers, custodians, food service employees, security guards, secretaries and other workers at UC hospitals and campuses.

    UC and UPTE said details of the tentative contract, which union members must ratify, would be released next week. Prior to the agreement, UPTE workers were seeking investments from UC into retention, pay and ensuring safe working conditions to help address a staffing crisis that the union said “threatens patient care, student services, and the research mission at the heart of the UC system.”

    “The finalized agreement reflects the university’s enduring commitment and UPTE’s advocacy for our employees who play critical roles across the University,” a joint statement from UC and UPTE read. “Both parties acknowledge and appreciate the collaborative spirit that allowed us to move forward and reach a resolution that supports our valuable employees and the University of California’s mission of excellence.”

    UPTE rescinded its strike notice pending a membership ratification vote, according to a statement from Dan Russell, UPTE president and chief negotiator.

    “Our tentative agreement is a hard-won victory for 21,000 healthcare, research, and technical professionals across UC — and one that will benefit millions of UC patients and students, as well as people across the world who benefit from UC’s cutting-edge research,” Russell said. “We continue to stand with AFSCME and CNA members as they fight and strike for a similar agreement for their members.”

    Meredith Turner, the UC senior vice president of external relations and communications, said the agreement was the result of “constructive dialogue and a shared commitment to finding common ground while maintaining financial responsibility in uncertain times.”

    Turner had previously opposed the strike, saying in a video statement posted online Thursday that UC was “disappointed, but not surprised that UPTE has once again chosen disruption over dialog.”

    She said UC had been bargaining in good faith, offering “real improvements, meaningful raises, strong benefits and fair working conditions that reflect how much we value our employees.”

    UPTE previously engaged in three statewide strikes this year in addition to a fourth strike last November, which was limited to UC San Francisco.

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    Kaitlyn Huamani, Jaweed Kaleem

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  • Unions ask judge to block immediate firings of federal workers. – WTOP News

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    A federal judge in San Francisco could rule Monday on an emergency request from unions representing government employees, seeking to block immediate layoffs threatened by the White House amid a government shutdown. 

    We want to know your thoughts on the government shutdown. How are you and your family affected? Share your story — Send us a message or a voice note through the WTOP News app on Apple or Android. Click the “Feedback” button in the app’s navigation bar.

    A federal judge in San Francisco could rule Monday on an emergency request from unions representing government employees, seeking to block immediate layoffs threatened by the White House amid a government shutdown. 

    The White House senior economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that layoffs could begin as early as Monday, “if the president decides that the negotiations are absolutely going nowhere.”

    Saturday, unions representing federal workers filed a motion for a temporary restraining order, asking Judge Vince Chhabria of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to block President Donald Trump’s administration from taking immediate action.

    Last week, the court received a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

    The temporary restraining order request follows the AFGE and AFSCME suit.

    The unions’ lawsuit focuses on a memo the White House budget office sent to agency leaders in late September to prepare for large-scale firings if the federal government shut down.

    The memo from OMB said agencies should consider a reduction in force for federal programs whose funding would lapse next week, are not otherwise funded and are “not consistent with the President’s priorities.”

    President Donald Trump has said on social media that he and budget director Russell Vought would determine “which of the many Democrat Agencies” would be cut.

    The unions argue the White House doesn’t have the legal authority to permanently shed workers during a lapse in appropriations, and that after the shutdown, furloughed employees who worked without paychecks would receive back pay.

    As of Monday morning, Chhabria’s docket doesn’t reflect that the case has been scheduled for argument Monday.

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    Neal Augenstein

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