La Jolla, Calif. (KGTV) – Tens of thousands of University of California healthcare workers walked off the job Tuesday to participate in a one-day strike, demanding better working conditions and wages.
Employees from a variety of departments, including physician assistants, radiation techs, mental health clinicians, researchers, and pharmacists, gathered near the UC San Diego Medical Center to make their voices heard.
A sea of green and blue filled the sidewalks as workers held up signs in protest. Wan Ting Huang, who has worked for UC San Diego for 12 years, expressed the challenges faced by health care staff on a daily basis.
“I'm essentially forced to have to carry for a large amount of patients, so me personally carry have to care for 24 ICU patients plus up to 15,” Huang stated.
The union representing the employees has filed an unfair practice charge, claiming that the UC Health System is not negotiating in good faith and is refusing to bargain over wages for several hundred employees. Workers are fighting for more affordable insurance costs and better staffing levels. Their contracts expired last year.
Huang voiced her concerns about the implications of workforce burnout on patient care.
“It could be someone else's mom, someone else's father when I am stretched thin. When your workers are burned out, you're receiving lower level of care that could be dangerous. Every day we have to make the decision whether we're sacrificing our own personal mental physical risk to take care of our patients,” she explained.
In response to the strike, UC Health released a statement indicating they have continued to communicate with unions since the last strike in an effort to finalize contract negotiations. The statement addressed the unfair labor practice charge, calling it based on “unsubstantiated allegations.”
Despite the current tensions, Huang remains hopeful that an agreement can be reached, allowing employees to focus on their primary job: providing care to patients in need.
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