University of California faces a strike by more than 60,000 employees

More than 60,000 employees went on strike Monday at University of California campuses and medical centers.

The statewide strike is scheduled to end at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.

The strike is led by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents more than 40,000 UC service and patient care technical workers. They will be supported by 25,000 UC nurses, represented by the California Nurses Association, who are striking in solidarity with AFSCME.

Local 3299 said it planned to have picket lines formed Monday at UCLA, UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, UCLA Santa Monica Hospital and sites varying from UC Berkeley to UC Davis and UC Irvine. Picket lines on Tuesday are scheduled for campuses varying from UC San Diego to UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz, as well as UC medical centers.

Those represented by the AFSCME include patient care assistants, hospital technicians, food service workers and custodians who have worked without a contract for more than a year, according to a news release from the union.

Michael Avant, president of AFSCME Local 3299, accused UC of failing to pay its frontline workers enough to cover their rent or the growing cost of groceries.

“Our members have had enough of UC’s serial elitism, tone deafness and blatant disrespect for the workers who make this institution run, and that’s why they will strike at every UC campus and Medical Center on November 17th and 18th," he said in a statement.

But UC said it values the contributions of AFSCME-represented workers and implemented key terms from its “last, best and final offer” in July after 16 months of negotiations and completion of all state-required impasse procedures.

“Under the terms implemented, all AFSCME-represented employees now earn at least $25 an hour, effective July 2025 and receive up to $1,500 per year in health care premium credits,” the University of California said in its statement to The Center Square and other media. UC added it proposed wage increases totaling 28% over five years.

“Despite UC’s continued outreach, AFSCME has not presented any substantive counterproposals since April 2025,” UC said. “Absent AFSCME's engagement, the University cannot engage in meaningful negotiations for this critical workforce. Nonetheless, we remain hopeful and committed to working towards a fair and sustainable agreement that supports our employees and advances the University’s mission of service, education, and research.”

UC and a union representative didn’t respond immediately to The Center Square’s requests for an interview.

Previously the University Professional and Technical Employees-CWA Local 9119 previously planned to be part of this week's strike, but reached a contractual agreement with the University of California after 17 months of bargaining and three weeks of mediation. UC announced the contract on Nov. 8.

"Due to our Tentative Agreement (TA) with the University of California, UPTE is no longer striking on Monday and Tuesday, and you should report to work as normal," UPTE-CWA told its members. But the union encouraged its members to support AFSCME 3299 and the California Nurses Association by standing in their picket lines before work and during 11:30 a.m. or noon rallies. The union is also encouraging its members to vote on the ratification of the contract.