University of California, Davis, technicians performing avian flu testing services for poultry and cattle samples will pause their work duties later this month, as a part of a University of California systemwide strike.
Nearly all 20,000 University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) union members voted yes to strike from Feb. 26 to 28 after eight months of bargaining, according to a union press release. At the Davis campus, that includes members at the Veterinary Medicine Hospital, California Animal Health & Food Safety Lab System (CAHFS) and UC Davis Medical Center.
UPTE UC Davis Chapter co-chair Amy Fletcher told Agri-Pulse that CAHFS’s BioTech lab, responsible for testing California poultry and cattle samples for H5N1, said members have filed petitions with the UC over poor work conditions and low staffing for roughly 18 months.
The UC Vet Med Hospital is another service utilized by producers and is one of the largest veterinary hospitals in the U.S.
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UC Davis spokesperson Bill Kisliuk wrote to Agri-Pulse that the Davis lab has “successfully met and continue to meet the demand for diagnostic testing to protect animal and human safety, and are prepared to do so in case of an UPTE strike.”
He added that CAHFS is part of a network of labs “designed to handle surges in testing demand” including the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Association of American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians National Animal Health Laboratory Network.
The union has filed other unfair labor practice complaints and accused the university system of restricting free-speech for staff wanting to speak out against the staffing shortage. UPTE President and Chief Negotiator Dan Russel wrote in the release that the UC has not adequately met UPTE’s proposals over the last 24 days of negotiation.
A statement from the UC Office of the President disputed UPTE claims that the UC had not satisfied bargaining requests, saying the university system has offered higher wages, expanded on vacation and sick leave and added career development mechanisms, among other terms.
They also claimed UPTE did not show up for the last scheduled bargaining session and did not respond to previous UC offers.
