AFSCME Local 3299 Service Workers Stand Up for Fair Wages

Local 3090 Members Join Their Brothers and Sisters in Show of Support for Their Fight

As the sun rose on the morning of July 14, 8,500 service workers at the University of California’s 10 campus and five medical center systems took up their picket signs to mark the beginning of a statewide walkout. The workers – who clean and disinfect, serve food, provide security and drive shuttles – had been negotiating with UC executives in good faith for almost a year. Now they had been deadlocked for the last few months.

Finally, in mid-July, AFSCME Local 3299 workers decided they had had enough and walked out of facilities around the state. Their five-day strike was designed to focus public attention on their battle for a fair contract and an end to poverty wages.

Local 3090 members and officers joined the picket line, in a show of solidarity and support with their union brothers and sisters.

The striking employees, who have been working without a contract since January, noted they are paid 25 percent less – on average – than other hospitals and California’s community colleges.

Many service workers, who make only $10 an hour, are forced to take second jobs or go on public assistance to meet their families’ basic needs. Skyrocketing gas and food prices has deepened the crisis for UC families that are already living paycheck to paycheck. Typically, service workers live in low income communities farther away from campus, forcing a longer commute and higher fuel costs that use a disproportionate portion of their budget.

“I am striking for my family,” said Rosario Cortes, a senior custodian at UC Santa Cruz. “I work at a world-renowned university, but they aren’t paying me enough to support my family.”

In addition, UC insist on passing on benefit costs, pushing families deeper into poverty. When workers have stood up for better lives for their families and better working conditions, the University has retaliated by violating labor laws.

The strike had a powerful impact showing UC that they shouldn’t take their employees for granted- shuttle services were greatly reduced, buildings were closed, construction delayed, trash piled up, food service was decreased, managers had to do strikers’ jobs-

Their efforts proved how important their services are to making UC run and showed executives the union’s strength, power and determination to win a fair contract. We support their fight for justice.

For more information, go to www.afscme3299.org.