For Immediate Release
Monday, June 21, 2004
2,000 AFSCME Members March for Fair Contract for Service Workers At UCI Medical Center on Wednesday, June 23
IRVINE, CA —Two-thousand members of the nation’s largest public service employees union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, will march at the University of California Irvine (UCI) Medical Center in support of service workers fighting for a fair contract and improved patient care. At 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23, AFSCME members will rally at the corner of City Way and South Manchester Avenue, and march to the UCI Medical Center before returning to the rally site for the program.
AFSCME Local 3299 represents 17,000 employees at the University of California’s five hospitals and nine campuses. UC medical centers earned $165 million in profits last year — UCI’s medical center’s profit alone was $34 million. But UC management refuses to settle a contract with its 7,000 low-wage service workers around the state, including 500 employed at the UCI campus and medical center. The workers are seeking improvements in patient care, a chance to advance — through education, training and promotions and their first pay increase since 2002. They are mostly immigrants and people of color, many of whom work full-time yet earn poverty-level wages cleaning floors, serving food and maintaining grounds. A food server at UC Irvine earns $8.35/hour, less than $17,500 a year.
The rally takes place during AFSCME’s 36th International Convention June 21-25 at the Anaheim Convention Center. More than 5,000 delegates, alternates and guests will see Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry address the convention on Thursday, June 24.
AFSCME is the nation’s fastest growing public service employees union with 1.4 million members. AFSCME organizes for social and economic justice in the workplace and through political action and legislative advocacy. AFSCME represents a diverse group of service and health care employees in the public and private sectors including nurses, EMTs, bus drivers, child care workers, custodians and librarians.
