UAPD State-employed doctors have asked whether they have the right to strike alongside SEIU workers this coming Monday (aka sympathy strike). The short answer is no, UAPD-represented doctors do not have the right to engage in a sympathy strike with another union at this time.
UAPD-doctors who want to support their SEIU colleagues can join them on the picket lines on their own time (e.g. before or after work, or during vacation, CTO, annual leave). You can read more about the SEIU strike plans here.
UAPD is party to an expired Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the State. Although the MOU is expired, its terms and conditions remain in effect because UAPD and the State have not formally reached an impasse in negotiations. Article 5.3 A of the MOU prohibits striking and 5.3 B speaks to the “responsibility to remain at work during any interference which may be caused or initiated by others,” language which bars sympathy strikes. Should UAPD reach an impasse in negotiations, UAPD attorneys would revisit the issue of whether doctors could participate in a sympathy strike in the future.
In some departments, management has begun circulating information about the SEIU strike which suggests that State workers never have the right to engage in job actions such as strikes. That is not true. State workers can in fact strike under certain conditions, such as when their contract has expired and an impasse in negotiations has been reached, or when there are pending unfair labor practice charges against the employer over actions taken in bargaining. More information about potential job actions will be discussed at membership meetings over the coming weeks.