As bird flu continues to soar, workers at the only lab in California with the authority to confirm high-risk cases are on strike. Employees at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory join nearly 60,000 workers UC-wide from across the healthcare, research, and technical sectors.
Claiming unfair labor practices, the unions aligned their efforts with overlapping strike dates starting on Wednesday.
Wednesday is also the date when the no confidence UCD faculty resolution vote for UCOP President Michael V. Drake ends.
University Professional & Technical Employees (UPTE) 9119 represents 20,000 University of California healthcare, research, and technical professionals across the State. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) 3299 includes 37,000 service, patient care, and skilled crafts workers.
UPTE 9119 employees overwhelmingly voted in favor of the strike by 98%, according to the union; their strike ends Friday. The AFSCME (3299) strike ends Thursday.
The strikes started just five days after UC Davis highlighted a new economic analysis that “finds that UC Davis powers nearly $9.57 billion in economic impact to the Sacramento metro area and $13.18 billion to the state, supporting 61,700 jobs in the region and 68,300 in the state.”
Striking workers include physician assistants, optometrists, pharmacists, RN case managers, mental health clinicians, and IT analysts. These professionals support UC students, deliver patient care at UC hospitals, and contribute to research on climate change, food sustainability, virology, and genomics.
Workers at the CAHFS, affiliated with UCD, conduct tests on samples collected from farms and the food supply chain nationwide to detect diseases, including avian flu. To ensure accurate and timely testing, CAHFS must maintain adequate staffing levels and provide proper training for its personnel.
A summary of the UC-wide online forum, UC Health Grand Rounds, held on Feb. 19, outlined key points regarding food and workplace safety practices and the necessity for monitoring animal populations for signs of infection. The forum discussed the complexities surrounding the H5N1 situation, emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, and highlighted the need for ongoing surveillance and research to understand and mitigate the impacts of the virus on both animal and human health.
A UPTE press release stated that “high turnover caused by inadequate compensation, poor morale, and toxic working conditions have been left unaddressed by the University of California, leading to a rash of turnover and short-staffing in the laboratory during a predictably busy peak season for the spread of bird flu
The current staffing crisis leaves the broader public and the agricultural industry susceptible to an outbreak's economic and health impacts. Workers are calling on UC to address the severe understaffing and unsafe working conditions that have jeopardized workers’ role in testing for diseases like the avian flu.
UCD spokesperson Bill Kisliuk stated the university and its partners "have successfully met and continue to meet the demand for influenza diagnostic testing to protect animal and human safety, and are prepared to do so during an UPTE strike."
CAHFS lab is part of a national system designed to handle surges in testing demand. Other labs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Association of American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) are conducting influenza testing at this time. CAHFS also partners with the California Department of Food and Agriculture/USDA H5N1 Task Force, which serves on the front lines of bird flu response.
"Collectively, we have the resources necessary to provide timely and vital health and safety information," Kisliuk said.
On Wednesday, three qualified and proficiency-tested staff are processing samples in the UC Davis lab.
The work of Amy Fletcher, pilot plant manager in food science and technology, supports food processing research, “a critical and sometimes overlooked part of the food system,” which can include chopping, peeling, freezing, milling, or preserving that makes raw food ready to eat. At UC Davis, several food processing facilities within the Department of Food Science and Technology serve the university community and regional and international businesses.
Staff includes healthcare workers and researchers focused on critical testing in various industries, like the unique avian influenza testing for California’s poultry. They also research climate change and treatments for cancer and Alzheimer’s. However, Fletcher argues that they’ve been facing a crisis in recruitment and retention, with over 60% of research and technical staff having been at UC for less than five years.
She said this high turnover hinders progress in vital research.
Anastasia Vourakis, a UCD physical therapist, said she’s afraid to take a sick day, knowing her absence would burden colleagues. “The University of California is meant to be a world-class institution, but every day, I struggle to keep up with an ever-increasing workload,” Vourakis said, calling it a “constant strain” that impacts patients when they are treated by fewer and fewer workers who are stretched beyond their limits. She said that can mean they don’t spend enough time with inpatient care patients or experience longer wait times for outpatient services.
From the perspective of the UC Office of the President, both unions have amplified misinformation rather than negotiating in good faith. “We have offered each union meaningful wage increases, health care premium reductions, and other offers to directly address the issues they’ve indicated are important to their members. In addition, we have also continuously bargained in good faith and are disappointed that AFSCME and UPTE remain unwilling to do the same,” UC said in a statement.
AFSCME has not responded to the university’s proposals or counter proposals since May 2024, UCOP stated in response to this strike. “While both AFSCME and UPTE may say they want UC to return to the table, the successful resolution of these contracts depends on their willingness to engage in productive bargaining. The university will do everything possible to ensure strike impacts on patients, students, faculty and staff are mitigated,” according to the statement.
During an online press conference on Monday over Zoom, Dan Russell, UPTE president and chief negotiator, said that over the past year, 9,000 workers ratified their platform, but since June, the university has refused to engage meaningfully regarding student mental health and healthcare needs. He said bad faith bargaining and allegedly illegal cost increases led to a limited strike at UCSF last November.
In November, the UC Coalition of Unions, which includes AFSCME 3299 and UPTE 9119, asked employees to sign a letter “Stop the Monstrous Healthcare Hikes!” to UC Regents, Drake, chancellors, and administrators at the UCOP. The letter states costs are set to increase by 9-11% starting Jan. 1, including copay increases of up to 50% and monthly premiums on the UC health plan CORE, the only UC health plan that didn’t require premium payments.
The UCD resolution of no-confidence did not mention healthcare hikes.
According to UCOP, UPTE began strike preparations the same month contract negotiations began, failed to attend the most recent bargaining session, and declared an impasse before responding to UCOP offers.
Despite increasing costs, UC said in November it remained committed to providing all employees equitable access to affordable health care.
UC stated that “in most cases, represented employee health care costs will mirror the increases for the UC workforce subject to any special provisions in their contracts.” Because UCOP was negotiating with AFSCME and UPTE and their collective bargaining agreements have expired, premiums for these employees, UCOP stated, will be held at 2024 rates until the parties complete negotiations. UC proposed premium subsidies to offset healthcare premium increases.
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