Workers represented by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299 and University Professional and Technical Employees, CWA 9119 (UPTE) are going on strike today (May 1) over the UC’s hiring freeze and denial of benefits to employees at recently acquired hospitals. The unions allege that the UC did not provide them with prior notice about the hiring freeze, announced in March by UC President Drake, and then violated state law by failing to bargain.
AFSCME 3299 represents over 37,000 service, patient care and skilled craft workers across the UC, while UPTE represents over 18,000 research support, healthcare and technical workers. Today’s strike, on International Workers’ Day, marks the unions’ fourth Unfair Labor Practice strike this academic year.
This post, updated by members of our News Department, seeks to provide up-to-date information and developments regarding the UC workers’ strike, and will be periodically updated. For live updates, follow our X (formerly Twitter) page here.
Live Feed:
1:45pm — AFSCME pickets move into North Campus
Protestors walk through Bruinwalk and Kerckhoff Patio. They circle back towards Bruin Plaza while UCPD watches on the sidewalk. They continue to chant.
1:30pm — New march proceeds through campus
Over 500 protestors move into campus, composed of AFSCME and UPTE members and supporters. The protestors move through Bruin Plaza, all chanting: “if we don’t get it, shut it down” The protestors circle through Bruin Plaza repeating these chants, among others.
1:15pm — Another march begins at Ronald Reagan Medical Center
A group of strikers from AFSCME create a new march at Ronald Reagan Medical Center. Some individuals from UPTE have also joined this new march. The crowd passes the Ronald Reagan turnaround chanting, “whose university? Our university!”
A police officer on a motorcycle moves through the crowd as they march toward the Luskin Conference Center toward campus.
12:45pm — Student walkout heads toward AFSCME and UPTE pickets
After circling through the Court of Sciences, the march heads west and toward the Luskin Conference Center and Luskin Conference Center near Strathmore Drive. After arriving at the Luskin turnaround, the march proceeds down Westwood Boulevard toward the Medical Center. Police on bicycles follow the protestors.
12:35pm — Protest marches through Court of Sciences
The march moves through the Court of Sciences in South Campus while public safety aides associated with UCPD circle the march on bicycles. As the march moves through campus, more students join.
12:15pm — Speeches finish; march and mobile chants begins
The speakers end their announcements, sentiments, speeches, and chants and begin a march behind Powell Library, toward South Campus and the inverted fountain. The organizers have planned the march to merge with AFSCME and UPTE pickets across campus. While lining up to march, a protestor flies a “cops off campus” flag. At the same time, 8 UCPD officers on bikes watch the march from Dickson Court.
As the protestors march, they yell the following chants: “Get up, get down, there’s a people’s movement in this town!”, “students, unite, walk out and join the strike!”
12:08pm — Third speaker from SLAP and ILPS condemns UCLA investments
A third speaker from SLAP and ILPS addresses the heightened presence of police and private security on campus in the past week on the one year anniversary of the Palestine Encampments in Royce Quad and ahead of a documentary screening of the film “The Encampments.”; police and private security interrupted this screening for “The Encampments” last night multiple times. The speaker announces that “the ruling class pulls every trick in the book to repress our people…will we allow these attacks on our communities to continue?” The crowd cries “no!” in response and the crowd emphatically agrees and cheers the speaker on in their anti-investment sentiments. At the end of the speech, the crowd begins chanting, “long live, international solidarity!”
12:00pm — Second speaker begins from UCLA Divest Coalition
The second speaker, a representative from the UCLA Divest Coalition, begins their speech. They confront how UC Regents “continue to invest in the genocide of the Palestinian people” while Chancellor Julio Frenk “continues the militarization of our campus.” They continue further by leading a series of chants against the military corporations UC Regents invest in, saying “say it loud, say it clear, Blackstone is not welcome here.” Other chants include speaking in Spanish, saying, “Julio, escucha, estamos en la lucha.” This speaker also critiques the UCLA Administration and UC Regents for continuing to invest in genocide while students face issues like housing insecurity and workers face issues like life-altering injuries on the job. They introduce the next speaker, another representative from SLAP who will speak on behalf of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), a global anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist organization.
11:45am — Students begin chanting and first speaker takes the stage
As students gather outside Murphy Hall, they begin chanting, saying, “the workers, united, will never be defeated. The students, united, will never be defeated.” One of their banners reads, “Students nad workers united against the UC: disclose, divest, stop repression.” As a protest organizer gathers the crowd, he introduces the first speaker, a labor organizer and member of the Student Labor Advocacy Project (SLAP).
This first speaker condemns administration for using the Trump Administration as a scapegoat for budget cuts affecting research and student programs across campus; during these budget cuts, UC and UCLA executives continue to receive raises and bonuses. The speaker also states that workers received little to no support following wildfire evacuations adn “did not care if workers made it back home safely.” As he continues to expose and condemn the UC for neglecting workers, student protesters chant “shame.” To end the speech, the first speaker begins a chant: “up, up, up with the workers, down, down, down with the bosses.
11:30am — Student walkout begins outside Murphy Hall
About 50 students are gathered outside Murphy Hall, UCLA’s main administrative building, to express solidarity with UPTE and AFSCME in a walkout organized by the AFSCME Solidarity Committee.
A media liaison for the walkout told UCLA Radio that “the systemwide hiring freeze has actually impacted student workers by delaying the hiring process for RAs, by being used as justification to fire staff of the Black Bruin Resource Center, and has generally contributed to a feeling of doubt and uncertainty for the many student workers who rely on this pay to survive. In a broad sense, the ULPs also highlight the UC’s lack of care for its students. It’s important to note that the UC has not seen any major budget cuts, and that hiring freezes precede the second Trump presidency.
They said that “More than anything, the UC’s recent actions clearly demonstrate that they are not in the business of protecting and caring for its students – the same way they neglect their essential workers. Above all, the UC is a greedy institution seeking to increase profits at the expense of its students and workers.”
10:45am — UPTE pickets in Bruin Plaza
After briefly marching around Ackerman Union, workers represented by UPTE are picketing in Bruin Plaza while representatives carry large banners that read “UC: unfreeze our futures or feel the heat.” Workers chant “Who’s got the power? We got the power! What kind of power? Union power!”
Update on detained student activists (see 8:11am update): A total of 8 students were detained this morning.
10:09am — AFSCME and UPTE line up for new march
Workers gather to the beat of drums, lining up outside the Ronald Reagan Medical Center. Workers hold picket signs, as well as massive straws that read “This is the last straw.” Workers march northwards on the sidewalk of Westwood Blvd.
9:15am — UPTE pickets ongoing at Ronald Reagan Medical Center
River, a worker represented by UPTE-CWA 9119, told UCLA Radio that they came to the picket line because the UC’s hiring freeze “unilaterally [halted UPTE’s] efforts to address the staffing crisis.” He added that the strike “has a special place” within nationwide mobilizations, saying that “we’re out here on May Day [International Workers’ Day] to reach internally but also contribute to this much bigger picture of improving working conditions everywhere.”
Students in the AFSCME Solidarity Campaign have also set up a table near Ronald Reagan Medical Center. A media liaison for the campaign told UCLA Radio that “it’s always important for students to show solidarity with workers against the UC because our struggles are inherently connected.”
They said that “as UC’s greed drives up the cost of tuition and housing for students, it also prevents our most valuable workers from receiving fair pay for their labor. We’ve seen increased repression on campus in the form of extremely high militarization and even, as of recently, student arrests. In the face of this show of fear from the UC, it is more important than ever for students and workers to come together.”
8:11am — Protesters detained after dispersal
6 student activists have been detained by UCPD at a traffic stop in the Sunset Village parking lot after peacefully dispersing from the wake-up call. This follows yesterday’s arrest of 3 individuals by UCPD, including 2 students who attended a screening of the documentary “The Encampments.”
Update: The detained students were released about an hour later and cited for not wearing a seatbelt.
7:30am — Protesters disperse, followed by UCPD officers
After briefly moving to the grass outside the Chancellor’s Residence parking lot, chanting “We’ll be back (today!)”, students started to disperse as a line of UCPD officers in riot gear followed them down Charles E. Young Drive, North. Officers stopped following students near the back of Young Research Library.
A student walkout is planned at 11:30 a.m., while UPTE and AFSCME pickets are scheduled to begin at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. respectively.
7:00am — Activists condemn Chancellor Frenk and the UC Regents
Protesters respond with chants of “Shame!” as a student denounces the UC for its response to budget cuts, such as the systemwide hiring freeze, while granting salary increases to executives and continuing its spending on UCPD and private security. Students chant “UCPD, KKK, IOF, you’re all the same,” and “When workers’ rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”
An organizer told UCLA Radio that they hope to “expose the contradiction that the workers who actually make this university run are treated as disposable – being paid low wages, forced to commute for hours on end, and charged absurd amounts for parking and healthcare; while the Chancellor receives almost a million dollars a year for showing up to a few meetings.”
They added that “since the beginning of their contract fights last year, students have stood with AFSCME and UPTE members by turning out to pickets, dropping banners, and generating material support for workers in the form of care packages. As students and student workers, we understand that every win for full time career workers at UCLA is a win for students. Our struggles against the UC Regents, for better contracts and for divestment, are driven by the shared interest in our university working for the interests of the people not the interests of profit.
6:45am — UCPD arrives at the scene
6 UCPD cars, in addition to 5 more APEX Security officials, arrive outside the Chancellor’s Residence. Officers are equipped with various equipment, including some in riot gear and one with less-lethal projectiles. Two officers arrived holding bunches of zip ties, while one wearing a face covering brought an unmarked paper bag.
6:32am — Students start to chant
Students chant “UC, UC, you can’t hide: we can see your greedy side” and unfurl a banner that reads “Julio, escucha: estamos en la lucha – Stop worker and student repression!” 2 APEX Security officials film the protesters.
6:30am — Student activists organize “wake-up call” outside Chancellor’s Residence
About 25 student activists are gathering outside Chancellor Frenk’s on-campus residence in solidarity with workers on the morning of AFSCME 3299 and UPTE’s ULP strike. A demonstrator told UCLA Radio that while “Frenk is living in his UC subsidized multimillion dollar mansion, the students and workers on the campus are struggling to make ends meet. Julio lives in a mansion that is literally as close to campus as you can get, yet the average AFSCME 3299 member has to drive upwards of 4 hours a day to get to work.”
See the below thread on X (formerly Twitter) for real-time updates.
