May 21, 2013 03:11 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Respiratory therapists, nursing aides, surgical technicians and other patient care workers at the University of California (UC) have organized a two-day walkout that could cost the medical centers up to 20 million dollars, according to The Los Angeles Times.

The walkout began at 4 a.m. Tuesday and is scheduled to last until 4 a.m. Thursday at five medical centers in the UC school system: UCLA, UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC San Diego and UC San Francisco.

A Sacramento Superior Court Judge forbade at least 450 workers from participating in the strike. The judge issued an order that the unions must maintain a minimum level of staffing among certain units.

All those who will be in the picketing lines are protesting for better pay and adequate staffing. They chanted, "All day, all night, safe staffing is our right!"

One mammogram technician, Cecilia Calvillo, said she has to rush from patient to patient and cannot provide necessary attention and care. She said patients are often vulnerable and stressed when they are awaiting results on tests for breast cancer.

"When you don't have what you need staffing-wise, these patients don't get what they need," she told the LA Times.

UC officials are displeased with the walkouts and are doing their best to make up for the lost workers. Elective surgeries, treatments and other procedures have been cancelled and 400 temporary workers have been hired to make up for the loss.

"Leaders of both unions claim their chief concern is patient care," Dwaine Duckett, vice president for system wide human resources at the University of California, said in a statement. "But it's very simple: If they strike, services to patients suffer."

Ester Rivera, 59, called UCLA Tuesday morning to confirm her 85-year-old mother's ultrasound appointment. She was told to come but there was no guarantee her mother would be treated.

"It's an inconvenience," she said. "We came from Bakersfield, a long way. Hopefully we won't have to come back."

For the workers, the protest is about what they see as fair pay and having a staff that would improve patient care. Shantea Barnes said she worried about her pension and her future beyond her job.

"UCLA has such a great name in America," she said. "But they don't really treat their workers well." 

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