For the second time in three months, UC workers across California are on strike, demanding higher wages in the face of what they call a critical staffing shortage.
"They're cutting back everything and they're making us do more for less and it's not fair. So just understaffed, underpaid," said Brian Monroy, UC Santa Barbara medical assistant.
Monroy has been a medical assistant at UCSB for 7 years. He loves his job but says he can’t live on his current wage.
"The cost of living is going up, everything's going up, and wages aren't comparable to what we've being doing here," Monroy said.
He’s one of over a hundred workers at UCSB and thousands of others across California from Unions UPTE and AFSCME 3299 on a two-day strike that started on Wednesday.
"We're all understaffed, underpaid, and burning out," said Sam Feinstein, UCSB research assistant.
Feinstein says understaffing is impacting patient care.
"It's taking students months to see a psychologist or even to get into student health for trauma or serious health problems," Feinstein said.
Tran Nguyen with AFSCME 3299 says 13,000 University of California service and healthcare workers have left their jobs since 2020.
"This goes to show that these workers are doing the job of 2 or 3 more people without adequate compensation to do that," Nguyen said.
UC representatives deny a staffing shortage, sharing data showing a slight increase in staffing since 2022.
Contracts for UPTE and AFSCME 3299 both expired in 2024 and negotiations have been ongoing for a year with no resolution.
"We just want to be an equal counterpart at the bargaining table, but the UC is practicing illegal tactics to ensure that our voices are being silenced," Nguyen said.
UC officials issued a statement denying these claims as well, saying the university is “disappointed” in the union’s decision to strike. The university’s recent proposal offers workers a wage increase of 5% in 2025 and 3% in the contract’s second and third years, and wages for lower-paid workers would increase to at least $25 an hour by July.
"We're all tired. We want a fair contract for everybody so we can get back to work," Monroy said.
Neither side has said if or how the strike is currently impacting operations on campus.
