Editors’ note: This article is a continuation of City on a Hill Press’ previous coverage of AFSCME and UPTE labor strikes.
Picket lines and chanting protestors in front of the “University of California Santa Cruz” sign at the base of campus have become a familiar sight.
On April 1, the second day of the quarter, AFSCME Local 3299 and UPTE-CWA 9119 held an unfair labor practice (ULP) strike at the corner of Bay and High streets. This is the second of its kind this calendar year.
So, why do the UC unions continue to strike?
“We gave the university about a month to respond to our last strike and not much has changed since then,” said Amelia Cutten, Unit Representative for UPTE-CWA and a behavior health counselor at the Student Health Center. “We’re out here again on another unfair labor practice strike to let them know that we’re still here. We’re still concerned about the impacts on staffing, and [we’re] hoping that they’ll come back to the table to meaningfully bargain with us.”
Heather Hansen, a communication strategist for the UC Office of the President responded to UPTE’s argument in an email to City on a Hill Press.
“Since the last strike on Feb. 26-28, UC has continuously communicated with AFSCME and UPTE to try to close these contracts. UPTE and UC are progressing through the impasse process, with fact-finding sessions completed last week and a recommendations report coming soon … Filing a ULP does not mean there has been a finding of wrongdoing by the university. And we disagree wholeheartedly with their claims.” 
AFSCME Local 3299 and UPTE-CWA congregate at the base of campus and set up tents bearing their union emblems in front of the UCSC welcome sign.
At 6 a.m., around 45 people gathered to prepare for the day-long strike. But unlike the last action, which saw the two unions organizing strikes separately, this time AFSCME Local 3299 workers stood in solidarity with UPTE-CWA. 
Strikers march along the crosswalk dividing Bay Street and Coolidge Drive and hold up signs in protest.
Through communication between the two unions, members found common ground in their demands to the UC. Janet Mucino, an executive board member for AFSCME Local 3299 and a senior custodian at UCSC, described their relationship.
“When you see your family suffer, you need to stand up. When you see your coworker suffer, you need to stand up,” Mucino said. ”That’s why we’re here. To support them, to be with them. Because they always support us.”
As UPTE-CWA and the university continue to work toward a resolution, they hope to come together with other unions as a means to build confidence and strength in numbers.
“For us and our members, the bargaining process has been pretty demoralizing,” Cutten said. “So being out with other workers that are experiencing the same thing builds confidence. Support for each other continues to build us up and make us feel like we’re not alone.”
Strikers in support of AFSCME Local 3299 and UPTE-CWA call out chants such as “el pueblo unido jamás será vencido” translated from Spanish to “the people united will never be defeated.”
By 11:50 a.m., around 100 people gathered for a rally planned by UPTE. Cars honked in support of the union’s demands. UPTE, AFSCME and the Worker Student Solidarity Coalition passed out lunch free of charge for picketing workers and students.
Mucino maintains the unions’ determination to work together and stay together.
“We’re all one big family, and we support each other and lift each other up,” Mucino said. “We are frontliners of UC at different departments, different areas, but we are one. So we need to be together.”
