A state board has issued a complaint against the University of California on behalf of a union that claims the UC has engaged in unfair practices and interfered with employee rights.
The Public Employment Relations Board, which helps settle allegations of unfair labor practices, issued a complaint to the UC on Sept. 12 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3299, a chapter of a union that represents UC patient care workers at UC hospitals.
The union had been in collective bargaining negotiations with the University for almost a year starting in June 2012. In April of this year, UC officials said the two parties “had negotiated in good faith,” according to the union’s complaint.
The document also claims that UC officials told many union employees in May that participating in a strike they were planning would be “unauthorized.”
The right to participate in such strikes is protected by the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act, according to the complaint.
AFSCME 3299 employees claim in the complaint that UC officials questioned employees via emails, letters and text messages about their participation in the strike without citing a reason for the questioning or saying that employee responses are voluntary.
AFSCME 3299 members also said that UC officials had told employees that their participation in the strike would merit disciplinary action such as termination from their jobs, according to the complaint.
“It’s time for UC executives to answer for their frontal assault on collective bargaining, and the growing pattern of mismanagement that is destroying this institution,” said Kathryn Lybarger, AFSCME 3299 president in a statement released last week. “No one is above the law.”
Dianne Klein, UC spokeswoman, said the University’s outside counsel will respond to the complaint by the time its response is due. The University is required to respond within 20 days of the complaint’s date of service.
“We’ve gone around this many, many times, so we’re not surprised by this,” Klein said.
The Public Employment Relations Board will schedule an informal settlement conference between AFSCME 3299 and the University. If a settlement is not reached between the two parties, a judge will issue a decision during a formal hearing after listening to evidence presented from both sides.
Compiled by Kristen Taketa, Bruin senior staff.