The governor’s May budget revision, released Tuesday, remains largely unchanged from the January proposal. Patrick Lenz, the university’s vice president for budget and capital resources, said the university did not receive any additional increases in funding in the May revision.

The budget also calls for a four-year tuition freeze for all students except those in professional schools, a restructuring of debt and discontinuation of a proposed unit cap on state-subsidized courses, which could have affected 2,200 UC students in the next school year.

Student Regent Jonathan Stein and Regent Bonnie Reiss raised concerns about rising costs of professional student fees while undergraduate and other program costs have been held constant.

“Because Prop. 30 passed and because of new state revenues, we’ve been able to hold tuition constant,” Stein said. “In reality, we’ve been able to hold undergraduate and Ph.D tuition constant while professional schools continue to rise.”

The regents also discussed restructuring the university’s debt. The state of California currently takes out bonds on behalf of the university, but UC officials say shifting the responsibility of the debt to the UC system would help lower the debt.

“That debt is greater because the state of California’s credit rating is not as good as ours,” said Brooke Converse, spokesperson for the UC Office of the President. “What we’re asking is that the state of California let us take over and restructure that debt, because if we restructure it, we’ll be able to save $80 million a year.”

The university is also working with the governor to expand facilities at UC Merced, said Nathan Brostrom, the university’s executive vice president for business operations.

“The highest priority is a classroom and academic building at UC Merced,” Brostrom said. “They are now close to 6,000 students, and they do not have space for continued growth unless they get more classroom buildings.”

The regents also approved a plan to build a new aquatics center at UC Berkeley on the current site of the Tang Center parking lot.

Protesters from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299, a union representing patient-care workers at UC medical centers, also interrupted early in the meeting for about 45 minutes to protest in favor of higher pay and increased staffing.

On Thursday, the regents will meet in closed sessions to discuss collective bargaining matters and lawsuits related to the UC system.

Staff writer Virgie Hoban contributed to this report. 

Mitchell Handler covers academics and administration. Contact him at mhandler@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @mitchellhandler.

The post UC Regents meet in Sacramento to discuss budget, projects at UC Berkeley and Merced appeared first on The Daily Californian.

If approved, the restraining order would prohibit the two-day strike planned by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299. According to a statement released by the UC Office of the President on Friday, strikes that pose an imminent threat to public health and safety are illegal under state law, and the university believes the strike would improperly withhold health care from the public.

Dianne Klein, a UC spokesperson, said that if the union cared about patient safety, it would not endanger patients by striking.

“This (strike) is one of their tactics to get what they want, which is a special deal for their workers,” Klein said. “That is not only unfair but fiscally irresponsible.”

The strike comes amid ongoing contract negotiations that began in June 2012. The university proposed a pension reform that would increase contributions toward pension benefits from both the university and employees, but AFSCME 3299 rejected these reforms, arguing that the university is prioritizing pensions over patient care.

According to Todd Stenhouse, spokesperson for AFSCME 3299, the university is prioritizing executive pension benefits instead of adequate patient care and staffing.
“We are seeing the university cut corners in ways that are so dangerous for patients,” said Kathryn Lybarger, president of AFSCME 3299.

AFSCME 3299 has established a Patient Protection Task Force to care for patients during the strike, but that it is something in which the university refuses to participate, according to Stenhouse.

During pension reform negotiations, AFSCME 3299 asked for caps on executive pension benefits, which the university would not discuss, according to Lybarger.

“Right now, these executives are going to retire on upwards of $300,000,” Lybarger said. “That’s a lot of money to live on for doing nothing.”

The university filed a similar restraining order in July 2008 in response to a planned AFSCME 3299 strike. The court approved the restraining order, but the union went ahead with the strike.

“If the court says you are prohibited from striking and they go ahead and do it anyway, they are breaking the law,” Klein said. “We hope there is not a strike. We are prepared for one.”

University Professional and Technical Employees, another UC medical workers union, also held a demonstration Wednesday at the five UC medical centers.

AFSCME 3299 also held a sit-down protest at Wednesday’s UC Board of Regents meeting in Sacramento, resulting in the arrest of 13 demonstrators.

“We are in this fight to win real patient protection,” Lybarger said. “It’s not an option to emerge from this fight without having won real gains for our patients.”

Contact Tara Hurley at thurley@dailycal.org.

The post University of California files for restraining order against union planning strike appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The vote to strike — which passed with more than 97 percent support — comes after the university and the union failed to come to an agreement during ongoing contract negotiations, which began last June. The union alleges that the university’s prioritization of profits reduces patient-care quality, while the university argues that the strike is an attempt to gain bargaining leverage and divert attention from the union’s refusal of pension reforms during negotiations.

The suggested pension reforms include an increased contribution from both the university and employees toward the costs of pension benefits as well as revised eligibility rules for retirement health benefits, according to Shelly Meron, a media specialist with the UC Office of the President.

However, AFSCME, which represents nearly 13,000 patient-care workers from medical centers and student health centers across all 10 UC campuses, said the union is striking because the suggested pension reforms are another attempt by the university to maintain high-paying executive pensions. Representatives from AFSCME say those funds should instead be used for patient care.

“At this point, (the university has) certainly made clear they will not negotiate until we agree to protect their entitlements,” said AFSCME 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger. “Pension reform subsidizes their massive benefits. We are not going to stand for that.”

Such pensions and high-paying executive salaries have caused understaffing and cost-cutting in the UC medical system that is impacting the quality of patient care, said union spokesperson Todd Stenhouse.

The union says these new cuts and financial decisions have left the medical centers unable to provide the care patients deserve due to unnecessary stress and inadequate training on the use of hazardous materials in patient-care areas.

“The (university) needs to get its priorities straight,” Stenhouse said. “They need to stop this idea that executive salaries are their top fiscal priority … These are publicly funded hospitals that are here to serve California, and we are here to make sure they stay the crown jewels of the state.”

However, Meron asserts that the pension reforms are needed to ensure the university’s pension programs are financially sustainable.

“We are dealing with a $24 billion unfunded liability,” she said. “We want to make sure the (pension programs are) sustainable over time.”

In a press release from April, the university stated that AFSCME is trying to use patient care as a tool in contract negotiations, which can endanger the patients’ health. Meron said the university will prepare contingency plans for medical center operations — which include patient care — in case of a strike.

But a report published by AFSCME last month alleged that the UC hospitals have increased executive payroll by $100 million since 2009 and are the ones endangering patients by cutting care jobs and outsourcing them to less experienced workers.

The union is also preparing to take patient protection measures, including a 10-day notice of a strike and the formation of a Patient Protection Task Force in the event of an emergency.

The dates and duration of the union strike have not yet been finalized.

Alyssa Neumann covers city government. Contact her at aneumann@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter @AlyNeumann.

Clarification(s):
A previous version of this article may have implied that the University of California will prepare contingency plans for patients. In fact, the university will prepare contingency plans for medical center operations, which include patient care.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the vote to strike came after the University of California and the union failed to come to an agreement during contract negotiations last June. In fact, the vote to strike comes after the university and union failed to come to an agreement during ongoing contract negotiations, which began last June.

A previous version of this article also incorrectly quoted Meron as saying that pension that the UC wants to make sure the UC medical centers are sustainable over time. In fact, she said that the university wanted to make sure that pension programs are sustainable over time.

The post UC healthcare workers vote to strike appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The rally began at noon and was followed by a protest in the streets surrounding the campus before ending outside California Hall. UC Berkeley’s May Day event coincides with other International Workers’ Day activities throughout the Bay Area that seek to improve conditions for workers and citizenship opportunities for immigrants.

“We need to say that this university belongs to the public,” said Hatem Bazian, a professor of Near Eastern studies who attended the rally. “It was built by us collectively … yet we have institutions and leadership that think they are on the board of directors of corporation A or B.”

Workers from multiple unions — including AFSCME 3299, a union representing health care and service workers, and UAW Local 2865, a union representing UC student workers — attended the rally.

Wednesday’s May Day rally comes in the midst of labor negotiations between AFSCME 3299 and the university.

“It’s all part of putting the pressure on UC to give us a just and fair contract,” said Sarah Leadem, an organizer for AFSCME 3299.

AFSCME recently scheduled a strike vote from April 30 to May 2 to bring attention to alleged patient-care violations and the elimination of hundreds of frontline care jobs. In a statement, Dwaine Duckett, UC vice president for systemwide human resources, said that the university is open to compromise but needs engagement from AFSCME leaders.

Amanda Armstrong, head steward for the UAW 2865 and a graduate student in rhetoric, said GSIs, readers and tutors are also entering into contract negotiations. Armstrong spoke to a crowd gathered outside California Hall about demands the union has, including a cap on class size, better wages and health benefits for student-workers and an end to discrimination in hiring in the workplace.

“Being a graduate student in the university, I do have a lot of benefits.” said Vreni Michelini, a graduate student in art practice who was a GSI in the fall. “But I also see and I live the struggle in the sense that even though I have two scholarships that’s almost paying for my tuition, I still got to have three jobs to just make it with the rent, food and everything else I have to pay.”

Supporters also rallied behind immigration reform.

“We have a broken immigration system, and there are people in our community who have been deported,” said City Councilmember Jesse Arreguin, who attended the rally. “We can no longer divide families and use (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) as a way to try to suppress workers’ rights.”

Mitchell Handler covers academics and administration. Contact him at mhandler@dailycal.org and follow him on Twitter @mitchellhandler.

The post May Day rally draws support for worker and immigrant rights appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The controversial workforce reductions come in the wake of a recent whistle-blower report alleging that chronic understaffing at UC medical centers has undermined patient safety.

The report, “A Question of Priorities: Profits, Short Staffing and the Shortchanging of Patient Care at UC Medical Centers,” was commissioned by AFSCME Local 3299, a union representing UC workers. The report includes findings of patient-care deficiencies at UCSF ranging from hospital-acquired bed sores to an “immediate jeopardy” incident in which a patient received the wrong medication.

“No one can read that report and not be deeply troubled,” said Kathryn Lybarger, president of AFSCME 3299. “To put out a report like this and see UCSF go through with what we see as the problem is just shocking. I think it points to their priorities — layoffs don’t benefit patients.”

Officials said the layoffs are necessary to prepare for the onset of health care reform and other challenges. UCSF is working to build a new $1.5 billion hospital campus at Mission Bay.

“As national healthcare leaders, (the medical centers) must strategically invest our dollars to improve care, grow our market share, plan for reduced payment increases and lower our total costs overall,” said Mark Laret, UCSF Medical Center CEO, in a memo to employees regarding the workforce reduction.

AFSCME 3299 is filing an unfair labor practices complaint with the California Public Employment Relations Board on the grounds that UCSF Medical Center failed to comply with its legal obligation to confer in good faith with the union about the workforce reductions.

“The day I was laid off was my eighth straight day of work with no breaks,” said Celina Andrade, a UCSF pharmacy technician and single mother of two who received a layoff notice last week, in a statement to AFSCME. “I know how desperately understaffed the pharmacy at UCSF is from first-hand experience.”

The AFSCME report stated that possible resolutions to problems with patient care include legislative hearings on management efficiencies, investigations of UC staffing practices and a reconsideration of the university’s constitutional status, which grants the system autonomy from basic employment standards in the state labor code and local ordinances.

California State Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, said state legislators will look into allegations of mismanagement at UC medical centers.

“I am always concerned when I read about problems in a healthcare facility in California,” Hernandez said in a statement. “But to read about these issues at the University of California medical system is especially troubling because we expect more from a taxpayer-supported institution that is training our future healthcare workforce.”

Contact Mia Shaw at mshaw@dailycal.org.

The post UCSF initiates layoffs in wake of whistle-blower report appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The report, “A Question of Priorities: Profits, Short Staffing and the Shortchanging of Patient Care at UC Medical Centers,” was commissioned by AFSCME Local 3299, a union representing UC workers. It draws upon independent reports and inpatient discharge data to raise questions about the quality of care at UC medical centers.

“We put the report out as a call for help,” said AFSCME 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger. “When you press the call button, you’re not going to see someone show up. That’s bad patient care, and we want to see a change.”

The report identified systemic breakdowns and violations uncovered by the California Department of Public Health. In November 2012, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center received an F for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group, a health care organization that publishes an annual hospital-safety score.

“It’s a collection of cases,” explained Todd Stenhouse, communications director for AFSCME 3299. “It’s the custodian who shows up in the room of someone who has been sleeping in their own feces all night. It’s the CEO who sees patients as dollar signs.”

According to the report, these problems are the result of excessive management costs and rising debt service payments, which have led to chronic short-staffing and overbooking of operating rooms.

Despite the alleged issues with care at UC medical centers, representatives from the UC Office of the President claim the union is attempting to gain leverage by criticizing the university.

“We’re at an impasse in negotiations,” said UCOP spokesperson Steve Montiel. “UC medical centers are consistently rated among the best in the country. This report is a tactic to negotiate in the news media rather than negotiate at the bargaining table.”

AFSCME 3299 is in a stalemate with UC officials over labor contract negotiations for patient care technical workers that began in summer 2012. An independent mediator is being brought in to try to resolve the differences.

“We’ve appealed to supervisors on the floors of the hospitals, and we’ve brought it to the UC at the bargaining table,” Lybarger said. “They’ve been unresponsive.”

The report stated that possible resolutions include legislative hearings on management efficiencies, investigations of UC staffing practices and a reconsideration of the university’s constitutional status, which grants the system autonomy from basic employment standards in the state labor code and local ordinances.

“More oversight, transparency and accountability are needed to be sure we’re meeting standards and responsibilities,” Stenhouse said. “Our singular priority is that the UC medical system put patients first in all it does.”

Contact Mia Shaw at mshaw@dailycal.org

The post Report claims inadequate resources at UC medical centers appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The protest was part of a systemwide picket organized by AFSCME 3299, the University of California’s Service and Patient Technical Workers union, which represents 22,000 UC service and patient care workers.

The protesters gathered on Upper Sproul Plaza at noon, picketing the area in a large circle before moving onto the street. They stopped traffic for 10 minutes before concluding the hourlong protest on the sidewalk.

The group gathered partially in response to changes to the UC employee pension plan. Starting in July, the university is enacting a two-tiered plan. Employees hired on or after July 1 will receive pension benefits different from those afforded to current employees. Current employees will be expected to give 6.5 percent of their salaries to the pension plan as of the July start date, as compared to the 5 percent they gave last year. New employees will pay 7 percent.

“This is really about UC not getting its priorities straight,” said AFSCME 3299 Executive Director Liz Perlman. “Enough is enough. We want to see UC take care of the people that do the work.”

The AFSCME contract with the university expired Thursday at midnight, but the union and UC system are still in negotiations due to disagreements over the UC pension plan and cuts to pay and benefits, according to Perlman.

“It’s a huge change to our pension, and it’s totally unfair to new and young employees,” said protester Tanya Smith, president of the UC Berkeley chapter of the union for University Professional and Technical Employees.

UC spokesperson Dianne Klein said that an outside arbitrator is working to negotiate a contract between the union and the university.

“We have 180,000 employees … most of them, those that are unionized, have agreed to our pension reform, and that’s all we’re asking of AFSCME,” Klein said. “We don’t see the point of negotiating publicly or in the media. We respect the bargaining process.”

Police monitored the protest until it ended just before 1 p.m.

“It’s an organized protest, and AFSCME has always been organized in the past,” said UCPD Lt. Lee Harris, who was monitoring the scene. “They’re being cooperative, and we appreciate that.”

According to Klein, although the AFSCME contract has expired, the employees will continue working for the same wages until a new contract is negotiated.

“Service workers are working after today without a contract,” said Maricruz Manzanarez, a senior custodian and bargaining representative for AFSCME. “We come to work because we love the students and the university, but we’re getting our backs broken.”

Libby Rainey covers higher education. Contact her at lrainey@dailycal.org.

The post UC employee labor union protests contract negotiations appeared first on The Daily Californian.