Signaling a potential end to a three-year standoff that caused December’s Democratic presidential debate to be moved off the UCLA campus, the union representing thousands of University of California patient-care workers announced a tentative labor agreement Tuesday.
The tentative deal would affect roughly 19,000 workers represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299. The same union announced a tentative deal last week affecting about 6,000 UC service workers.
“After nearly three years without a contract, AFSCME-represented UC service and patient care workers have now each succeeded in reaching agreements that strengthen middle class career pathways at UC and create enforceable reforms to staffing practices that have been entirely incompatible with UC’s core public mission,” union President Kathryn Lybarger said in a statement.
“This victory is a testament to our members’ commitment to their families, to each other and to the students and patients we are proud to serve each day,” she said.
There was no immediate comment from the university.
The patient-care workers will vote on the proposed agreement Feb. 4 and Feb. 6, according to the union. The service workers are scheduled to vote on their proposed labor deal on Thursday.
According to the union, the proposed deal with the patient-care workers includes salary increases and benefits, and also provides “enforceable limits on UC’s ability to outsource service jobs to private contractors.”
The labor dispute made national headlines in December when Democratic presidential candidates vowed not to attend a debate scheduled on the UCLA campus, saying they wanted to honor the union’s continued call for a boycott of UC facilities.
The debate was moved to Loyola Marymount University, where a smaller union dispute briefly threatened the event, but the labor issue was resolved prior to the nationally televised gathering.