We have been monitoring the professionalization of the HR/labor relations function at UC which followed the 2022 student-worker strike. From the Daily Cal: Following an announcement to strike [Wednesday-Thursday of this week] by AFSCME, Local 3299, which represents UC Service and Patient Care workers, the University of California filed an unfair practice charge Nov. 9 and a complaint for injunctive relief to the Public Employment Relations Board, or PERB, against AFSCME for including “essential employees” in strike efforts...
The university’s unfair practice charge alleges that the union’s call to strike was “unlawful,” as the strike involves “essential employees,” said J. Felix De La Torre, general counsel for PERB. “In California, public employees have the right to strike, except if you are in a position or a classification that performs essential functions,” De La Torre said. “That’s defined as a function that, in the absence of an employee showing up to work, there would be a significant and imminent threat to the public health and safety.”
Along with the unfair practice charge, the university filed a complaint for injunctive relief to PERB, which is a restraining order that would prevent said “essential employees” from participating in the strike, De La Torre said. In the complaint for injunctive relief, PERB cites five medical centers across UC campuses that are “necessary for maintaining public health and safety” at UCSF, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA and UC San Diego.
After filing for injunctive relief, the university and union met Monday to clarify the definition of an “essential employee” and agreed they will not be striking, terminating the injunctive complaint.However, the university’s unfair practice charge still stands, De La Torre said...
And there is this tweet from UCOP:
Source: https://x.com/UC_Newsroom/status/1859286817507508436.
In short, UC is moving toward a more confrontational approach in its labor relations, using both litigation and PR.
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