About 42,000 AFSCME Local 3299 service and patient care workers in California plan walkouts; UC cites bargaining progress as strike nears
About 42,000 University of California service and patient care workers represented by AFSCME Local 3299 are set to begin an open-ended unfair labor practice strike on May 14, affecting all UC campuses and medical centers statewide. Doctors and nurses are not striking and emergency rooms will remain open, but the union—citing expired 2024 contracts and seeking higher pay, lower health costs and housing talks—says UC imposed terms and refused to bargain on housing, while the university reports meaningful progress at the table and offers including raises, ratification bonuses and caps on some premium increases.
In New York, five Long Island Rail Road unions representing 3,500 workers threaten a May 16 strike; the MTA’s labor counsel says a deal is attainable this week, while a union leader disputes that and officials outline limited shuttle buses with the governor urging some commuters to work from home. In Ohio, about 150 Lorain County Job and Family Services employees in UAW Local 2192 remain on strike after 12 weeks over pay, and in Greece public service workers launched a nationwide walkout for higher wages amid inflation pressures.
Multiple public-sector and healthcare actions in the U.S., alongside a nationwide public-service strike in Greece, cite wages and affordability as central issues, indicating common bargaining pressures across systems.