An informational picket was held by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299 on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. Beginning at 10 a.m., the group gathered outside of Glasgow Residential Restaurant in support of patient care workers and service workers of the University of California (UC).
Danielle Brown, a communications associate for the Local 3299, explained that the purpose of the picket is to inform people in the community what is going on in regards to patient care worker and service worker contract negotiations at the UC system-wide level.
The following day on Oct. 10, a post on AFSCME Local 3299’s X account announced that they are “tired of UC’s bad-faith bargaining” and that “UC has refused to provide us with even the basic information we need to bargain our contracts.” As such, the Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) Committee called for a strike vote to occur from Oct. 28 to Oct. 30. The contracts that they would be negotiating would contain information remedying “short-staffing and low pay.”
On Oct. 8, 2024, the UC released a media statement on AFSCME’s picket and claimed, “We have been bargaining in good faith with the union, presenting meaningful proposals to directly address the union’s requests, including wage increases that, if accepted, would increase AFSCME salaries by 26 percent over the life of the five-year contract. We maintain a positive outlook on our relationship with AFSCME and the current contract negotiations and hope a mutually beneficial contract agreement can be achieved soon.”
Expanding on the negotiations process, Brown explained that the local is currently at an impasse with the UC. A few points the local is arguing in favor of are wage increases, increased minimum wage, affordable healthcare, housing benefits, and decreased parking rates.
A small crowd of facilities, dining workers, students, and union members gathered outside of Glasgow chanting, “UC greed has got to go” and “UC UC you’re no good! Treat your workers like you should!” Also present at the information picket were California State Sen. Richard Roth representing the 31st State Senate District and Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes representing the 58th Assembly district.
Both Assemblymember Cervantes and Sen. Roth took the time to speak to the crowd present at the picket, reassuring them that they will win their fight. Sen. Roth addressed the crowd and assured, “We have your back. We’ll be there walking with you.”
To share his reason for being present at the picket that day, Sen. Roth explained that he and his office have been supporting Local 3299 for twelve years now: “We stand in solidarity with the dedicated and tireless AFSCME 3299 workers at UC Riverside in their fight for a fair contract. They deserve fair wages, benefits, and improved working conditions and be able to have a roof over their heads and put food on their kitchen table.”
