Members of the American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees Local 3299 picketed outside UCSD’s
and Hillcrest hospitals on Feb. 28 to voice their concerns with inadequate
wages, high-stress working conditions and a rising cost of benefits that they
say have negatively impacted the quality of patient care.
The union represents over 20,000 health care and service
workers at UC’s five medical centers and 10 campuses whose contracts have
expired. These employees include health care providers and technicians,
custodians, food service workers, bus drivers, groundskeepers and security
officers.
Since August 2007, AFSCME has emphasized that below-market
wages, expensive benefits and the failure to implement a step system for wage
increases have created issues with recruitment and retention problems and a
less-experienced workforce.
