Workers say the numbers point to understaffing, as they often must work overtime and through breaks to care for patients and complete other essential tasks.

UCSF nurse Erin Carrera, a representative for the California Nurses Association, said that most instances of overtime occur when there are not enough staff members, nurses have not finished their patient-care work or a replacement has not arrived to relieve them.

“We’re nurses,” Carrera said. “We’re not going to walk away from our patients because we don’t have a release.”

Out of nearly 15,000 nurses employed by the UC system in 2012, nearly 13,000 earned some amount of overtime, according to a UC payroll report published July 31. The payroll report also shows that 235 of the 270 ultrasound technologists and 485 of the 547 radiology technologists employed by the system earn overtime. These ratios have remained somewhat consistent since 2010 and 2011.

UC spokesperson Dianne Klein said that overtime is a necessary part of providing adequate health care services and that staff members are well-compensated for overtime work.

Nurses working overtime are typically compensated at a rate of 1.5 times their regular salary, according to the nurses’ contract. The contract also stipulates that overtime cannot be mandatory except during university-declared emergencies.

“Effective medical care means that staff must be flexible and willing to work overtime in the event of emergencies,” Klein said in an email. “I believe you’ll find that the majority of our medical center employees – dedicated professionals – enjoy their jobs and consider UC a great place to work.”

Overtime work is voluntary for many workers, but UC San Diego MRI technologist Richard Smith said that the UC system can say it is voluntary because they know someone will do the work. Smith said that he and his co-workers each work seven to 25 hours of overtime every week in order to fulfill patient-care needs.

“Someone has to step up and say ‘I’ll do the overtime’ and take care of the patients,” Smith said.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents more than 12,000 patient-care workers, has claimed that many UC medical centers are experiencing understaffing and has cited staffing levels as a major reason for recent strikes. The union has been in contract negotiations with the UC system since 2012.

“There is far more use of overtime,” said AFSCME spokesperson Todd Stenhouse. “UC’s policy has been to demand that health care workers do more with less.”

Tim Thrush, vice president of patient care at AFSCME and diagnostic sonographer at UCSF, said that patient-care workers have to work overtime in order to care for every patient that management books.

According to Klein, however, the number of health care staff members employed by the UC system increased from 2008 to 2013, with the number of patient-care technical workers increasing by about 13 percent and the number of health care professional staff members increasing by about 35 percent. Service staff represented by AFSCME increased by less than 1 percent.

“Our medical centers operate in a highly regulated environment and if we had unsafe staffing levels, we simply would not be allowed to operate,” Klein said in an email.

Stenhouse said the UC system should convert its per diem workers, who receive no guaranteed benefits, to its career staff. He added that there is a need for enforceable levels of safe staffing and a committee to ensure safe staffing ratios are maintained.

Contact Sohan Shah at sshah@dailycal.org.

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Shirin Ghaffary/Staff

Approximately 40 protesters marched from Tolman Hall to the residence of UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks early Wednesday evening to protest the University of California’s implementation of changes to patient-care employees’ wages and benefits last week.

AFSCME Local 3299, a union representing the patient workers, organized the unannounced protest in response to what they said were significant cuts being made to workers’ benefits under the new contract imposed last Wednesday. Protesters cited issues with changes to the patient-care technical unit contract, such as an increase in health insurance premiums, parking increases of up to 10 percent and reductions in paid leave.

Revisions to the plan for AFSCME workers also include a guaranteed step increase of 2 percent for eligible employees on or about July 1 as well as a guaranteed wage increase of 1.5 percent on or about Oct. 1.

“We’re not asking for a big package to go on vacation,” said Maricruz Manzanarez, a UC Berkeley senior custodian and bargaining team member for AFSCME. “We’re just asking to keep what we have.”

The protest largely comprised AFSCME-represented UC workers and a few supporting students. The protest culminated on the front lawn of the chancellor’s mansion, and protesters demanded to meet with Chancellor Dirks to voice their concerns.

The protest ended peacefully after protesters left the chancellor’s residence around 6 p.m. Union organizers say they plan to continue protests in the future.

Shirin Ghaffary is the executive news editor. Contact her at sghaffary@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter at @sghaff.

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The implementation follows more than 12 months of negotiations, including a two-day strike in May, between the university and AFSCME Local 3299, the union representing the workers. The contract was implemented on July 24 and will last until negotiations are complete. Either the union or the university can bring new proposals forward, after which negotiations will resume. If both parties agree, the new terms will replace all or part of this contract, depending on which issues were successfully negotiated.

“Having completed all stages of the bargaining process, including state-assisted mediation and fact finding, the university is legally entitled to implement its last proposal,” said UC Vice President for Systemwide Human Resources and Programs Dwaine Duckett in a statement. “We would have preferred to reach a settlement, but this implementation provides our patient care staff with fair wage increases and good benefits now, rather than forcing them to continue waiting through stalled negotiations.”

Changes for AFSCME workers include a guaranteed step increase of 2 percent for eligible employees on or about July 1 and a guaranteed wage increase of 1.5 percent on or about Oct. 1, as well as medical, dental and vision benefits and contribution rates for employees and their families.

The contract also includes an implementation of the university’s post-employment benefits program, which includes an increase in the UC system’s contribution from 10 percent to 12 percent and an increase in employee contribution from 5 percent to 6.5 percent for workers hired before July 1, as well as a slightly modified tier of pension benefits for workers hired on or after July 1.

“The contract imposed on the Patient Care Technical Unit by UC includes a substantially smaller across the board wage increase than UC granted to its management staff on July 1,” said AFSCME Local 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger in a statement. “UC also is forcing frontline patient care workers to make substantially increased pension contributions, up to a 20% increase in Health Insurance premiums, parking increases up to 10%, and reductions in paid leave.”

Lybarger also stated that the contract does not address alleged unsafe staffing levels at UC hospitals.

“We’ve been negotiating with AFSCME in good faith since June of 2012,” said UC spokesperson Dianne Klein. “We’ve offered proposals specifically on pension reform, and AFSCME gave nothing back.”

AFSCME Local 3299 spokesperson Todd Stenhouse stated that the union has offered compromise but that the offers were pushed aside. He also added that executive pensions continued to increase at the expense of students, workers and taxpayers.

The union held a rally and march in Los Angeles Friday morning where more than 200 supporters protested the university’s announcement. Twenty-five protesters were subsequently arrested for blocking traffic and refusing to disperse.

“We are going to redouble our efforts to hold UC accountable,” Stenhouse said. “Our members are united in standing for a better UC.”

Klein said that there was no planned timetable for negotiations going forward.

Contact Sohan Shah at sshah@dailycal.org.

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UCSF health workers went on strike Tuesday, May 21 at the medical center on campus. Read more here.

The post UC health workers strike at UCSF appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Jacob Brown/Staff

Thousands of health care workers employed by the University of California participated in a strike Tuesday and Wednesday over pension reforms at UC medical centers and student health centers across the state.

AFSCME 3299, a union representing more than 12,500 UC patient-care employees, began the two-day strike Tuesday morning amid ongoing contract negotiations with the university that began in June 2012. University Professional and Technical Employees 9119, a union representing 3,300 technical workers, also went on strike in solidarity with AFSCME 3299.

Workers have expressed discontent with understaffing, proposals by the university to reform pension benefits and the university’s use of private contractors the unions say are inadequate for providing appropriate patient care.

“I’m tired of being told by my manager, ‘Do the best you can, prioritize, triage,’” said Judy McKeever, a registered respiratory care practitioner at UCSF Medical Center. “Our patients deserve better. Our patients deserve to get all their therapies. They deserve to be seen by us as frequently as they should be.”

Despite a 97 percent vote in favor of striking by union members in May, an average of more than 75 percent of union employees worked their scheduled shifts Tuesday, according to UC spokesperson Dianne Klein.

The number of workers striking also varied at the different UC medical centers, according to Juliana Bunim, senior public information representative for UCSF Public Affairs and University Relations.

At UC Davis, about 380 of union employees out of a total 3,400 took part in the strike Tuesday, said David Ong, a representative from the public affairs office at UC Davis Health System.

On Tuesday at noon, about 300 workers were striking outside UCSF Medical Center.

Earlier that morning, members of AFSCME and UPTE also held a demonstration outside the Tang Center. About 50 people attended to support the 30 Tang patient-care workers.

The university, however, opposed the strike, saying it will be costly and could negatively impact patient health. In a press conference Monday, John Stobo, the UC system’s senior vice president for health sciences and services, said that the strike will cost about $20 million and result in the cancellation of several medical procedures.

At UCSF alone, five surgeries for children with complex heart conditions, 12 pediatric chemotherapy infusions and two appointments for women who need operations by fetal treatment center surgeons were postponed because of the strike, according to a UC press release.

Although a Sacramento Superior Court judge issued an injunction Monday prohibiting some workers from striking, it only applied to about 450 workers who have critical duties, according to Klein.

“We believe it’s completely inappropriate to put patients in the middle of a labor dispute and jeopardize essential services to them as a negotiating tactic,” said Dwaine Duckett, vice president for systemwide human resources at UC Office of the President. “Leaders of both unions claim their chief concern is patient care, but it’s very simple: If they strike, services to patients suffer.”

Contract negotiations between AFSCME 3299 and the university have been ongoing since June 2012. In September 2012, the union contract expired, and both the union and university have been at an impasse in negotiations since December 2012, according to Klein.

Tanya Smith, local 1 president of UPTE 9119, was laid off after working for the university for 22 years. She says the strike was a necessary action because the university is wrongfully prioritizing executives over frontline workers.

“(Mark) Yudof gets $230,000 a year (in pension) for five years of service,” Smith said. “I’m here because that is not OK. If we want a public institution that serves the public, we have to … demand it.”

The university says it is necessary to enact substantive pension reforms to help address a $24 billion unfunded pension plan liability and enable the university to continue offering employees financially sustainable pension benefits.

In March, AFSCME 3299 published a whistleblower report claiming that inadequate and uneven staffing levels had led to patient neglect and harm.

“We put the report out as a call for help,” said Kathryn Lybarger, president of AFSCME 3299, in March. “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 university believes the workers are being offered a generous contract. In a document published last week, it states that all of the workers are being offered a 2 percent minimum raise.

Click here to see strike footage and for interviews with patient-care strikers.

Andrea Guzman is a news editor. Contact her at aguzman@dailycal.org.

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Mary Zheng/File

Thousands of health care workers employed by the University of California have begun a two-day strike at UC medical centers and student health centers across the state.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299, a union representing more than 12,500 UC patient care employees, began to strike Tuesday morning amid ongoing contract negotiations with the university that began in June 2012. University Professional and Technical Employees 9119, a union representing technical workers, is also striking in solidarity with AFSCME 3299.

Workers have expressed discontent with understaffing, the use of private contractors whom they say are inadequate and proposals by the university to reform pension benefits.

“I’m tired of being told by my manager, ‘Do the best you can, prioritize, triage,’” said Judy McKeever, a registered respiratory care practitioner at UCSF Medical Center. “Our patients deserve better. Our patients deserve to get all their therapies. They deserve to be seen by us as frequently as they should be.”

On Tuesday at noon, about 300 workers were striking outside UCSF Medical Center. However, strikers had organized shifts, and according to John Salsbury, a spokesperson for AFSCME, hundreds more workers were expected to picket outside the medical center between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.

Earlier that morning, members of AFSCME and UPTE also held a demonstration outside UC Berkeley’s Tang Center. About 50 people attended to support the 30 patient care workers who work at Tang.

The University of California, however, opposed the strike, saying it will be costly and could negatively impact patient health. In a press conference Monday, John Stobo, the UC system’s senior vice president for health sciences and services, said that the strike will cost about $20 million and result in the cancellation of several medical procedures.

Although a Sacramento Superior Court judge issued an injunction Monday prohibiting some workers from striking, it only applied to about 450 workers who have critical responsibilities, according to UC spokesperson Dianne Klein.

“We believe it’s completely inappropriate to put patients in the middle of a labor dispute and jeopardize essential services to them as a negotiating tactic,” said Dwaine Duckett, vice president for systemwide human resources at UC Office of the President. “Leaders of both unions claim their chief concern is patient care, but it’s very simple: If they strike, services to patients suffer.”

Andrea Guzman is a news editor.Contact her at aguzman@dailycal.org and on Twitter @guzmanandrea5.

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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.

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Tara Hurley/Staff

Around 60 union members and medical staff assembled at UCSF’s Parnassus campus Thursday in a protest that resulted in 10 arrests.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299, a union that represents UC workers, joined with University Professional and Technical Employees 9119, a union that represents UC technical workers, to protest recent layoffs at the UCSF Medical Center and the standoff in labor negotiations with the UC Office of the President.

“There’s a fundamental message that this rally is all about today,” said AFSCME 3299 spokesperson Todd Stenhouse. “That’s ‘put patients first.’ We need to send a message to the people of San Francisco that come into this hospital that the administration is not putting their priorities first.”

UCSF Medical Center recently cut 300 positions through layoffs, transfers and elimination of unfilled positions, which comes in the wake of a recent whistleblower report published by AFSCME in March detailing inadequate patient care at UC medical centers due to understaffing.

“Medical centers are going to continue to deteriorate,” said Wendi Felson, a retired UCSF employee and systemwide health care coordinator for UPTE. “All five UC medical centers have been cited for patient care violations.”

Since last November, the UC system and AFSCME have also been at an impasse over creating a new contract for UC workers focusing on pension reform.

Among the protesters were recently laid-off UC workers, including Miguel Herrera, a full-time custodian who was fired three weeks ago, and Connie Salguero, a former patient-care assistant who was fired this week.

“This was my only job here,” Salguero said. “Where will I get my food?”

According to UC spokesperson Dianne Klein, the protest is a tactic used by the union in labor negotiations, and AFSCME refused the contract without offering counter-suggestions.

“Bargaining in the media is not something we support,” Klein said about the protest. “We believe bargaining should take place at the bargaining table.”

State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, and San Francisco Supervisors John Avalos and Eric Mar also appeared at the protest to support the workers.

“They’re understaffed in terms of things not being properly sanitized, and those are things that put patients at risk,” said Yee’s press secretary, Dan Lieberman. “As far as pensions go, there’s going to be a lot of continued discussions, particularly pensions that are for the executives that are quite substantial.”

The meeting for pension negotiations, which was scheduled for April 3, has been postponed to later this month.

“We hope to reach a multiyear contract that’s fair to employees … and the university that rewards employees for their hard work,” Klein said.

Contact Tara Hurley at thurley@dailycal.org.

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Kayla Shapiro/File

UC Berkeley has rehired five Eshleman Hall custodians who were issued layoff notices in August because of the building’s impending demolition.

When it issued the layoff notices, campus labor management offered to rehire the custodians if new positions became available. Though the custodians have now been officially rehired, the initial uncertainty of their employment prompted a protest by a workers’ union in September.

“This was a big moment because these layoffs were totally unnecessary — there were open positions in other custodial departments,” said Sarah Leadem, an organizer of the statewide UC service and patient care workers’ union AFSCME Local 3299, which led the protest. “Their rationale was, ‘We’re getting rid of the building, so get rid of workers.’”

Eshleman Hall is being demolished as a part of the Lower Sproul renovation project, which aims to make the plaza more lively for students by improving the area’s functionality, safety and overall appearance.

Positions have now been provided to all five workers, four of them employed through Physical Plant Campus Services and one hired through Residential Services, according to campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore.

AFSCME intern Devonte Jackson speculated that the decision to rehire the custodians was partly a consequence of the protest.

“The protest definitely brought more attention to the case of these five workers, and management made sure this was a priority because we took direct action,” Jackson said. “This is the power of student-worker unity.”

Gilmore said the decision to rehire was not associated with the protest and that the process for rehire was already under way prior to it. According to Gilmore, employees were given preferential rehire rights to be considered for re-employment based on qualification, though there was no guarantee for reinstatement.

“These are valued employees,” Gilmore said. “We are pleased that they were able to retain employment on campus.”
Maricruz Manzanarez, a senior custodian who works with AFSCME, said to expedite the process of finding the laid-off custodians new positions on campus, union activists scoped out open positions and forwarded them to campus management.

“We wouldn’t have known there were openings or not if it weren’t for the union,” said Leroy Thomas, one of the five custodians. “My only other option would have been to retire.”

Contact Virgie Hoban at vhoban@dailycal.org.

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Sophia Elia/Staff

Students and other members of the UC Berkeley community rallied alongside campus service workers on Sproul Plaza Thursday afternoon demanding that the campus rehire workers who will be laid off in November.

A group of about 50 protesters rallied at the intersection of Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way, criticizing the campus for plans to lay off the service workers and demanding that the UC support a state Senate bill that would allow graduate student researchers to unionize.

About five UCPD officers were at the scene to monitor the protest.

Students who took part in the protest said they wanted to show solidarity with the workers.

Students are often unaware of workers’ financial situations, said Isaac Kreisman, a UC Berkeley senior and member of Students for a Democratic University.

“It’s important to support them and make connections with students (who face) fee hikes,” he said.

Thursday’s protest was led by members of AFSCME Local 3299, a union representing service and patient care workers at the university, and coincided with protests at other UC campuses and medical centers. The union is currently working with UC officials to renegotiate terms of a contract between the two parties that expires at the end of the month, according to campus spokesperson Janet Gilmore.

Other groups also took part in the protest, including activist group BAMN. Aside from voicing support for the bill that would allow graduate student researchers to unionize, some protesters demanded that UC Berkeley become a “sanctuary campus” for undocumented students and increase the number of underrepresented minority students it enrolls.

According to BAMN organizer Justin Cheong, the organization wants to see UC Berkeley double the number of underrepresented minorities it enrolls.

Still, the protest centered around the five ASUC Auxiliary custodial workers who were notified in late August that they would be laid off from their jobs at Eshleman Hall, effective Nov. 1. All five attended the protest Thursday.

According to Gilmore, their jobs were terminated because Eshleman Hall is scheduled to be demolished as part of the Lower Sproul Redevelopment project. She added that the campus is working with the custodians to find them positions elsewhere on campus but cannot guarantee them another position.

“We were told if they demolish the building, there will not be enough offices to clean, and the Martin Luther King Jr. building will be remodeled too, so (the campus) is not going to need custodians,” said Ruben Reyes, one of the five workers who will be laid off.

Reyes said that because he and the other four custodians had worked at the campus for at least six years, it was unfair for them to be laid off without the guarantee of a replacement job.

Contact Lindsey Lohman at llohman@dailycal.org

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