OAKLAND, Calif. – Thousands of AFSCME Local 3299 members, workers from other unions, students and community groups workers rallied at University of California (UC) campuses and medical centers across the state last week, demanding that the UC Board of Regents address the growing affordability and staff vacancy crisis plaguing tens of thousands of front-line workers.
The protests came as UC regents voted to grant their highest-paid executives raises of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Local 3299 is the UC system’s largest union, representing more than 30,000 workers at UC’s 10 campuses, five medical centers, numerous clinics, research laboratories and UC Law-San Francisco.
In March, Local 3299 leadership sent UC Regents President Michael Drake a letter urging officials to establish a $25 per hour minimum wage for all UC workers. The union argued that the real wages for tens of thousands of UC’s front-line service and patient care workers have dropped by 5% over the past two years, adding that more than 70% of these workers are priced out of local housing markets near their jobs.
Many workers are leaving for better paying jobs, leading to a system-wide staffing crisis. Yet, the regents failed to take action last week to raise the pay of front-line workers, only for top-earning executives.
“This week’s regents action on executive pay raises is beyond shameful — it’s embarrassing,” said Local 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger, who’s also an AFSCME vice president. “Instead of...
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