UC Optometrists' 2-Day Strike Could Delay Hundreds of Patient Appointments

Optometrists at University of California campuses started a two-day strike on Tuesday over what they call labor law violations by their employer during negotiations for salaries and benefits. Hundreds of patients with appointments this week may have to reschedule.

The work stoppage comes as UC and the University Professional and Technical Employees, Communication Workers of America Local 9119, have failed over a year to agree on the terms of employment for more than 80 optometrists who joined the union in 2022. Both parties have recently filed unfair labor practice charges against each other with state regulators.

Union representatives said noncompetitive compensation and lack of career growth opportunities contribute to the recruitment of new talent and retention problems.

As a result, at UCSF Health, one of the nation’s top-ranked ophthalmology hospitals, some patients wait six to eight months for an appointment, said Dr. Nicole Mercho, 29, who works at the hospital’s Glaucoma Clinic.

UCSF optometrists, who see about 12 to 14 patients daily on a regular schedule, manage a variety of ocular diseases and eye infections in patients often referred to the hospital from as far away as Eureka, Modesto and Stockton.

“We love our patients. But it just feels like this strike is the only option that we have left,” Mercho said. “It’s very frustrating that UC has not really bargained in good faith. They’re kind of dragging their feet. They are not taking it seriously.”

A spokesperson for UC told KQED that each location would handle notifications for impacted patients by the work stoppage.

Since January 2023, the union and UC representatives have met nearly a dozen times to work through issues to integrate the newly represented optometrists into an existing contract agreement that covers 6,500 health care professional unit members. But that process has come to a standstill, according to union representatives.

Last month, the union took its case to the California Public Employment Relations Board, accusing the university of violations that include refusing to disclose “essential” data for bargaining on wages and withholding contact information for new unit members for months.

Matias Campos, executive vice president at UPTE CWA Local 9119, said UC’s conduct undermines collective bargaining.

“We all have an interest in making sure that large public employers like the University of California are conducting themselves in an appropriate manner under labor law,” Campos told KQED. “And if a public institution like the university, that is subject to oversight, [and a] recipient of a tremendous amount of public resources, thinks that they can get away with committing unfair labor practices at the bargaining table, that should be alarming to every worker in California and every taxpayer in California.”

UC responded by filing its own unfair labor practice charges against UPTE CWA Local 9119 last week, rejecting the union’s accusations.

The university argued that it is simply insisting that the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that already applies to healthcare professionals in the unit also apply to optometrists and that this week’s work stoppage represented an “unlawful pre-impasse strike.”

“The University of California respects the rights of employees to organize and is committed to good-faith bargaining across our system with unions, including the University Professional and Technical Employees Union (UPTE),” said a UC spokesperson in a statement. “The University believes the planned UPTE action related to this limited group of employees is an unlawful exercise by the union.”

The spokesperson added that the two parties had reached tentative agreements on incentive compensation and other issues during the bargaining process.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a resolution, sponsored by six members, supporting UPTE-CWA Local 9119 optometrists and urging UC’s administration to swiftly reach an agreement that recognizes the issues raised by the employees.

Optometrists plan to hold a picket line outside UC medical centers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Davis. San Francisco Supervisors Dean Preston and Hillary Ronen are expected to speak at a strike rally on Wednesday at UCSF.