UC service workers strike over pay dispute

Hundreds of service workers at the University of California’s 10 campuses and five hospitals began a five-day strike Monday in a dispute over wages.

University officials reported “minimal impact” from the walkout by custodians, cooks, healthcare workers and other employees. Campus shuttles were idled at UC Berkeley and cafeteria hours were curtailed at UC Irvine, but patient care was not affected at any of the university’s five medical centers, they said.

“No gaps,” said Sheila Antrum, chief nursing officer at UC San Francisco Medical Center.

At noon, more than 250 workers, dressed in blue scrubs and striped uniform shirts, circled in front of the new travertine-clad Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, chanting “No Justice, No Peace,” as passersby honked and hooted encouragement.

“We’re the ones making UCLA beautiful, polished,” said custodian Maria Ruano, 53, standing across from the $1-billion building, designed by I.M. Pei and his son. “I’m working for 19 years and making $11.61 an hour. That’s ridiculous.”

Tom Rosenthal, chief medical officer for UCLA hospitals, which includes a branch in Santa Monica, said that all emergency rooms remained open and that no surgeries had been canceled.

But he cautioned that the longer the strike goes on, the greater the threat to patient care.

“What makes this strike so dangerous is we don’t know from day to day who might show up,” Rosenthal said. The workers, members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, say they are paid 25% less than employees with comparable jobs at community colleges and private hospitals.

UC and the union have been negotiating a new contract since last year without success.

UC officials said they have offered patient-care employees 26% raises over the next five years. For service employees, a hike in the minimum hourly rate from $10.28 to $11.50 has been proposed.

UC representatives said the strike violated a temporary restraining order issued by a San Francisco judge, but the union said the walkout was legal because the university was notified in advance.

The contract dispute comes as the UC system faces severe funding shortages. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a budget for next year that would leave the university $240 million short of covering its costs.

Service workers, including custodians, groundskeepers, bus drivers, cooks and parking attendants, called the strike. But some patient-care workers, including licensed vocational nurses and nursing assistants, went off the job in sympathy.

The union, which represents 8,500 service workers and 11,500 patient-care workers, said participation by the service workers was 80% to 90%.

UC officials said it was much lower but did not provide numbers.

Monica Martinez, 35, a nursing assistant and single parent of four, said that to get by, each week she works three 12-hour shifts at UCLA and another three half-days at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

“We should make equal pay for equal work,” said the Highland Park resident, who joined the picket line.

At UC Irvine’s medical center, cafeterias for the public were open fewer hours Monday but meal service to patients was not affected, officials said. The 446-bed hospital had 284 in-patients Monday, which spokesman John Murray described as a typical census for a Monday.

“There is no negative effect on patient care,” Murray said. “All services are being delivered to our standards.”

At UCLA, most students strode quickly past the picket lines without turning their heads to look.

“I wasn’t even aware” of the strike, said biology student Vandara Chim, 21. “But I feel for their cause.”

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gale.holland@latimes.com

Times staff writer Larry Gordon contributed to this report.