About an informational picket
An informational picket in not a strike or work-stoppage. It is designed to publicize the fact that a dispute exists between the University and a union, in this case AFSCME. Employees may participate in such a picket, but only during non-work hours. Typically, an informational picket is manifest by a group of employees holding signs, handing out leaflets, and/or walking near the property line of the place of work. Informational picketing may take place at any time during negotiations and even when a labor agreement is in place and negotiations are not being conducted.
By contrast, a strike against an employer (such as the one subsequently called off by AFSCME Local 3299 for the first week of June) is manifest by a call to represented employees to cease work in an effort to support the union's demands at the negotiating table. Employees participating would be refusing to perform the services for which they were hired. Strikes are generally sanctioned by the union's international and/or local joint labor council. Strikes occur when a labor agreement has expired and the parties are unable to reach agreement on a new contract. For public agencies in California, an impasse process is typically required and includes mediation and non-binding fact-finding prior to a strike.