There is NO strike at UCLA. There are workers that refuse to work. In the real world, they quit.
With thousands of homeless looking for jobs, this is a good place to train and hire them. If the are marching and carrying signs, they are not working. Not working, they are telling you they quit—accept it.
“Dylan Kupsh, a member of Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, said SJP at UCLA has connected with members of AFSCME Local 3299.
“We’ve definitely seen them. They came to the encampment,” he said. “They were really nice.”
Kupsh, a doctoral computer science student, added that the UC’s investments in Blackstone are an issue affecting everyone.
“By UC investing more in military contractors like Blackstone and all these other investments, they’re not prioritizing people’s rent or people’s basic ability to live here,” he said.
Note this is not about UCLA—it is about workers refusing to work, in part, to support the Hamas/Nazis. Yet, Newsom is silent and supportive. Guess he is looking for the Hamas vote in 2028.
LIVE: UC workers strike
Daily Bruin, 11/21/24 https://dailybruin.com/category/breaking/uc-workers-strike
What we’re covering here
The Daily Bruin covers breaking news relevant to the UCLA community as it happens. This page covers a strike from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, a union which represents patient care, service and skilled craftworkers. The union – which represents nearly 40,000 workers – called for a strike across UC campuses.
11/21/2024, 3:08:48 PM16 Minutes Ago
At 3 p.m., AFSCME Local 3299 picketers at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center began to pack up.
The union’s leadership said the 2:25 p.m. march was the last of the day.
11/21/2024, 3:06:28 PM18 Minutes Ago
Dylan Kupsh, a member of Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, said SJP at UCLA has connected with members of AFSCME Local 3299.
“We’ve definitely seen them. They came to the encampment,” he said. “They were really nice.”
Kupsh, a doctoral computer science student, added that the UC’s investments in Blackstone are an issue affecting everyone.
“By UC investing more in military contractors like Blackstone and all these other investments, they’re not prioritizing people’s rent or people’s basic ability to live here,” he said.
11/21/2024, 2:53:39 PM31 Minutes Ago
Dozens of picketers holding megaphones, drums and signs walked up Westwood Plaza to campus from the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center around 2:25 p.m.
While walking, they chanted, “What do we want? Contracts. When do we want it? Now!”
11/21/2024, 2:39:36 PM45 Minutes Ago
In a post on the social media platform X, the UCLA Police Department said it is monitoring a protest on campus, sharing a photo of AFSCME Local 3299 workers in Bruin Plaza. UCPD said in the post that protests entering the Westwood Plaza roadway posed safety concerns and reminded demonstrators to follow university Time, Place and Manner policies, which govern public expression.
11/21/2024, 1:39:11 PM1 Hour, 46 Minutes Ago
Monica Martinez, a member of the AFSCME Local 3299 bargaining team, said one of the union’s demands is more affordable housing for UC workers. Martinez criticized the UC’s investments in Blackstone, a private equity firm, saying it contributes to the spike in local rent prices.
“The University of California invested $7 billion of my pension fund to Blackstone,” Martinez said. “Take those $7 billion and invest it to actually build housing for the people that work here for you, which they do for upper management and staff and faculty and CEOs.”
11/21/2024, 1:39:10 PM1 Hour, 46 Minutes Ago
Donyelle Minafpe Rodney, a member of the AFSCME Local 3299 bargaining committee, said she believes the UC has been lying to the public about contract negotiations. She added that the University’s statement alleging that it has bargained in good faith is untrue.
“If they were offering us over so many millions of dollars that they put out in the news ad, I think we would be inside working,” she said. “That’s all a lie. That’s all they do.”
11/21/2024, 1:30:37 PM1 Hour, 54 Minutes Ago
Noah Velasco, a second year physiological science student, said the strike suprised him, adding that he was not aware of it beforehand.
“I was taken aback,” he said. “I just saw it happening and I realized how quickly it impacted everyone.”
11/21/2024, 1:09:04 PM2 Hours, 16 Minutes Ago
Jennifer Palomino, a member of the commissary team for UCLA who makes food for the dining halls and other locations, said she believes that withholding labor is the only way to show the UC it needs to pay fair wages.
“They always have the same answer for everything. ‘We don’t have money, we don’t have funds.’ Yet, they’re raising tuition,” she said. “They’re raising insurance costs, parking permits – everything’s going up except our wages.”
11/21/2024, 12:45:27 PM2 Hours, 39 Minutes Ago
Angela Vargas, a second-year cognitive science and economics student, said limited food options and condensed dining halls have forced her to change her normal routine. She added that the strike has limited her access to foods of her choice.
“There’s such long lines. The food trucks are taking hours,” she said. “I spent 40 minutes waiting in line for something that usually takes five.”
11/21/2024, 12:14:25 PM3 Hours, 10 Minutes Ago
UCLA medical students showed their support for the AFSCME Local 3299 strike outside the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, holding up signs saying “Medical & public health students stand with AFSCME workers against hospital greed” and “Labor justice is health justice.”
11/21/2024, 11:13:05 AM4 Hours, 12 Minutes Ago
At a rally hosted by the Student Labor Advocacy Project in solidarity with workers, Appel led the walkout participants in song.
“Forty thousand workers, we shall not be moved,” the crowd sang. “Like a tree that’s standing by the water, we shall not be moved.”
11/21/2024, 11:11:13 AM4 Hours, 14 Minutes Ago
Hannah Appel, an associate professor of anthropology and a member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, said in a speech in Dickson Court North that Blackstone – a private equity firm – is to blame for what she and other speakers have called a global housing crisis.
“Is there anyone here who cannot afford your rent?” she asked. “Blame the UC system.”
(Izzy Greig/Daily Bruin)
11/21/2024, 11:01:59 AM4 Hours, 23 Minutes Ago
A speaker at the rally in Dickson Court North hosted by the Student Labor Advocacy Project at UCLA said they are a member of the UC Divest Coalition at UCLA and that the group is standing in solidarity with striking workers.
“When I say UC, you say divest,” they said as they led the audience in a chant.
(Izzy Greig/Daily Bruin)
11/21/2024, 10:59:41 AM4 Hours, 25 Minutes Ago
“We must remind ourselves that low pay, long hours and poor work conditions are all practices of U.S. (United States) imperialism,” another speaker at the Student Labor Advocacy project-led rally said.
11/21/2024, 10:50:29 AM4 Hours, 34 Minutes Ago
Speakers at a rally led by the Student Labor Advocacy Project of UCLA criticized the UC’s investments in Blackstone and BlackRock and called on the University to raise wages for student and full-time employees at UCLA.
“At the No. 1 university in the nation, students are skipping meals,” a speaker said.
11/21/2024, 10:48:36 AM4 Hours, 36 Minutes Ago
More than 100 people joined a walkout led by the Student Labor Advocacy Project of UCLA in Dickson Plaza North – an area where public expression activities are not allowed, according to the university’s Time, Place and Manner policies – around 10:30 a.m.
(Izzy Greig/Daily Bruin)
11/21/2024, 10:01:48 AM5 Hours, 23 Minutes Ago
Nalin Chopra, a fourth-year data theory student, said most students – including him – are trying to eat meals in Westwood or in nonresidential dining places to mitigate the impacts of the strike. Many students with a premium meal plan also stocked up beforehand on meals in their dorms, though the university is still trying to feed students, he said.
“They’re trying to do the best they can to support the students, in terms of giving them as much food availability (as possible) during the strike,” said Chopra, a former Daily Bruin contributor.
11/21/2024, 9:55:14 AM5 Hours, 30 Minutes Ago
Herbert Castro, an organizer with AFSCME Local 3299, said today’s picketing will be a continuation of yesterday’s efforts to be heard and urge the UC to bargain in good faith around issues such as short staffing, insufficient wage increases and housing prices. Castro said he believes yesterday’s picketing efforts were successful, and picketers have received support from passing drivers and pedestrians, he added.
“I hope that we don’t have to strike again, but I know that our members and my colleagues are prepared to go out and win this fight,” Castro said.
11/21/2024, 9:03:59 AM6 Hours, 21 Minutes Ago
Picketers are demonstrating on both sides of Westwood Boulevard in front of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. A group of approximately 50 picketers on one side are chanting “If we don’t get it,” with over 100 picketers on the opposite side responding “Shut it down.”
11/21/2024, 8:59:55 AM6 Hours, 25 Minutes Ago
Shortly after 8:20 a.m., AFSCME Local 3299 members began entering Murphy Hall – which hosts some administrative offices – chanting “Our university.” Protestors continued to ring cow bells and use megaphones. Security personnel attempted to escort protesters out of the building.
11/21/2024, 12:05:07 PM3 Hours, 20 Minutes Ago
Nile, a member of the California Nurses Association who did not share his last name, said many nurses support the AFSCME Local 3299 patient care workers. He added that the UC’s allocation of finances does not prioritize its workers.
“You (the patient care workers) are essential members of our healthcare team,” Nile said. “Meanwhile, they spend billions of dollars buying at least six hospitals in the last two years.”
11/21/2024, 11:58:24 AM3 Hours, 26 Minutes Ago
Oscar Chen, a third-year electrical engineering student, said while he feels sufficiently accommodated by the new UCLA Dining hours and menu, he is aware of the additional strain the AFSCME Local 3299 strike has put on the remaining dining hall workers. He added that although he does not know about the causes of the strike, he is hoping service will return to normal soon.
“I realized the workers (who are not on strike) worked twice as hard,” he said.
11/21/2024, 11:56:20 AM3 Hours, 28 Minutes Ago
The solidarity march organized by the Student Labor Advocacy Project has reached AFSCME Local 3299 tents on Le Conte Avenue, where striking workers are getting lunch. The striking workers erupted in applause as the march approached.
11/21/2024, 11:55:13 AM3 Hours, 30 Minutes Ago
Betty Yee, who was the California state controller from 2015 to 2023, gave a speech in solidarity with the AFSCME Local 3299 union outside the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Yee, who is running for governor in 2026, criticized the University’s alleged bad-faith bargaining and disregard of UC patient care workers’ wellbeing.
“Let’s get UC to finally come to the table in good faith,” Yee said. “We don’t solve this when they send people who don’t have authority to negotiate.”
11/21/2024, 11:49:37 AM3 Hours, 35 Minutes Ago
Students marching in solidarity with the strike marched down Westwood Boulevard from campus toward the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center around 11:45 a.m.
“The workers united will never be defeated,” participants chanted as they marched.
11/21/2024, 11:36:40 AM3 Hours, 48 Minutes Ago
Demonstrators on campus participating in a student solidarity rally – led by the Student Labor Advocacy Project – walked through the Mathematical Sciences building and Boelter Hall around 11:30 a.m., calling on students to take part in the rally.
(Shiv Patel/Daily Bruin senior staff)
11/21/2024, 11:35:28 AM3 Hours, 49 Minutes Ago
Feast at Rieber opened for lunch fewer than 30 minutes ago. After an initial backlog of people, lines have largely remained open, a difference to the lines at Feast yesterday around the same time. As capacity inside Rieber has gradually increased, some students have opted to eat outside on the adjacent benches.
11/21/2024, 11:28:24 AM3 Hours, 56 Minutes Ago
The march – led by the Student Labor Advocacy Project – walked into the Court of Sciences around 11:25 p.m., with protesters chanting “Students, unite, walk out and join the fight.”
(Izzy Greig/Daily Bruin)
11/21/2024, 11:18:07 AM4 Hours, 7 Minutes Ago
Protesters marching in solidarity with the strike marched through the outdoor hallways in Bunche Hall around 11:15 a.m. Classes appeared to continue in the building as the protesters walked through.
“Students unite, walk out and join the fight,” participants chanted.
11/21/2024, 11:14:43 AM4 Hours, 10 Minutes Ago
Participants in the SLAP-led walkout are now walking northward on Charles E. Young Drive outside Dodd Hall.
“The students united will never be defeated,” they chanted.
(Izzy Greig/Daily Bruin)
11/21/2024, 8:58:05 AM6 Hours, 27 Minutes Ago
Dining halls have opened on the second day of the AFSCME Local 3299 strike across the UC. Dining services are limited once again, and crowd control ropes have continued to be in place outside each dining hall. Students still have the option of eating inside the dining halls, though many are opting to carry their food out.
11/21/2024, 8:23:01 AM7 Hours, 2 Minutes Ago
Hundreds of AFSCME Local 3299 members marched through Kerckhoff Hall on Thursday morning, chanting “We’ve got the power, union power.”
