Jul 11, 2008 8:55 pm US/Pacific
Union Says It Will Strike Against UC Campuses
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ―
A union representing University of California service workers says its members will strike next week despite a restraining order a San Francisco judge issued Friday.
Lakesha Harrison, president of the local American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union for almost 20,000 UC workers, says the order obtained by the Public Employment Relations Board is invalid and that the union is within its rights to strike starting Monday.
In mid-April, UC and AFSCME reached an impasse in talks for a new contract for service workers, whose ranks include bus drivers, cooks, custodians, gardeners and parking attendants at the university's 10 campuses and hospitals.
The university system says a strike would endanger public health by removing critical workers from hospitals.
The judge's order prohibits the union from calling a strike without giving adequate notice of the dates involved and until after a July 22 hearing can be held on the dispute.
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