Nearly 24,000 union nurses are set to begin negotiating a new three-year labor contract Wednesday, Aug. 6 with the University of California’s health care system.

The contract expiration Oct. 31 comes at a tough time for the UC’s medical facilities, which have been dealing with the economic challenges of rising healthcare and tuition costs at its schools and “ uncertainty about federal funding, ” according to the UC.

Roughly 13,400 of the 24,000 union nurses work at UC medical facilities in Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties, according to university records . The other 11,000 work in Northern California.

Marlene Tupay, who is one of nine people bargaining on behalf of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU), said that the issues to be presented Aug.

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