A union representing nearly 40,000 University of California workers began a two-day strike Wednesday to protest what it claims is bad faith bargaining by university negotiators as the two sides try to hammer out new labor agreements.

The work stoppage, which affects service and patient care workers at all UC campuses and medical facilities, will continue until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday. AFSCME Local 3299 and the university system have been in talks over new contracts for nearly a year.

“Instead of being a constructive and transparent partner seeking to bring us closer to agreement, UC has sought to drive us farther apart,” said AFSCME Local 3299 President Michael Avant in a statement. “By failing to meet its most basic legal responsibilities to the dedicated professionals who clean its facilities, serve students food, and treat its patients, UC has left workers with no choice but to exercise their legal right to strike,” he said.

University officials disputed the union’s allegations, saying in a statement that “we fundamentally disagree with AFSCME’s claims of bad faith bargaining and characterization of unacceptable bargaining proposals.” Negotiators for the two sides, the university said, had met more than 20 times between January and May and the university system had proposed salary increases for union members that would hike pay by an average of 26% over a five-year contract.

Union members authorized the strike with 99% of members voting in support just weeks after filing formal charges with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board alleging bad faith bargaining.

Clint Eastwood’s legal drama “Juror #2” is set to debut on Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service Max on Dec. 20, adding to the controversy over the limited theatrical run for what could be the storied star and filmmaker’s final movie.

The Warner Bros. Pictures film, which was directed by Eastwood and stars Nicholas Hoult as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, had its world premiere last month at the American Film Institute’s festival in Hollywood.

The film was then released in a limited number of theaters starting Nov. 1, leading to outcry that the narrow run was an affront to the legendary actor and director’s career and also a missed opportunity for theaters to capitalize on the 94-year-old Eastwood’s popularity.

To date, the film has played in about 1% of all U.S. theaters and represents just 0.1% to 0.2% of all total show times for every movie in this time span, said Daniel Loria, senior vice president of box office business intelligence at the Boxoffice Co. By contrast, another adult-oriented film, “Conclave,” has made up about 5% to 6% of market share in U.S. show times over the same period, he said. The papal drama has so far garnered almost $28 million in worldwide box office.

Warner Bros. did not report box office figures for “Juror #2,” which reportedly played in only a few dozen U.S. cinemas.

“These types of films perform differently than they did in the pre-pandemic era,” Loria said. “But what we’ve seen from this type of market is that the right type of film can still connect with viewers and succeed on a limited to moderate level. The film was not made available to markets and theaters and parts of the country that would have turned out to see that movie.”

The studio had not publicly disclosed the streaming-first plan until recently, leading many Hollywood observers to question the decision. Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav has taken much heat since taking over the studio, in large part because of decisions to shelve movies such as “Batgirl” and “Coyote vs. Acme.” Those moves were widely seen as part of a larger strategic shift and cost-cutting effort.

The studio has pushed back on the notion that it did Eastwood dirty with its release strategy.

A studio spokesperson said “Juror #2” was always destined for a streaming release on Max, as deals were made for that at the beginning, and filmmakers were aware of and agreed to the plan. The AFI Fest premiere gave the movie a “prestige theatrical showcase” that highlighted Eastwood’s “pedigree and history,” the spokesperson said.

The studio and filmmakers had agreed to reconsider the option to first release the film in a limited theatrical run once the studio had screened the film, the spokesperson said. They added that the limited theatrical run was intended to generate word-of-mouth anticipation ahead of the Max debut.

The filmmakers were made aware of the limited theatrical release in mid-August, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to comment publicly.

Eastwood’s decades-long career has yielded massive theatrical hits, such as “Million Dollar Baby” and “American Sniper,” though his 2021 film “Cry Macho” underperformed at the box office. However, reviews for “Juror #2” have been strong and Eastwood’s name recognition likely could have generated box office traffic, Loria said. “The Mule,” released in 2018, raked in almost $175 million worldwide on a modest budget of $50 million.

“Not everything is going to be ‘American Sniper,’ ” he said. “You can have movies like ‘The Mule’ that are going to be out there and find an audience. But in order to find the audience, … you have to make your movies findable.”

“Juror #2” has managed to find an audience in countries overseas where it did open in theaters, including France. The film has generated $9.6 million in international box office, according to Box Office Mojo.

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket system on its sixth test flight Tuesday, with Donald Trump in attendance at the company’s Texas launchpad.

Trump’s presence underscores the close ties SpaceX owner Elon Musk has established with the president-elect after pouring more than $100 million into his campaign.

The nearly 400-foot-tall structure — which features the Starship spacecraft stacked on top of a Super Heavy booster — lifted off flawlessly at 2 p.m. Pacific Standard Time from Starbase, the company’s Brownsville, Texas-area facility next to the Gulf of Mexico. The uncrewed spacecraft was sent on its way to a splashdown in the Indian Ocean, while the booster returned to earth less than seven minutes later.

The booster completed a controlled splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico but was unable to complete a return to the launchpad, where it was to be caught by giant mechanical arms, called “chopsticks,” attached to the launch tower — a remarkable feat first attempted and achieved on Starship’s fifth test flight on Oct. 13.

It wasn’t clear why the booster wasn’t able to return to the launch tower, but SpaceX said factors include the safety of the launch team, the pad and the public.

The test concluded a little over an hour later after Starship fired up its engines again and completed a controlled ocean landing more than 3,000 miles away off the northwest coast of Australia. During its flight, the spacecraft fired its engines in space, a key goal of the test since Starship will need to do that in order to reach the moon.

The Starship launch system is the biggest and most powerful ever built, with more thrust than the giant Saturn V that propelled the Apollo astronauts to the moon. SpaceX has a $4-billion contract to develop a “lunar lander” version of the Starship spacecraft that can return astronauts to the moon as part of its Artemis III mission scheduled for September 2026.

However, Musk developed the rocket system to take astronauts to Mars, something he would like to accomplish during his lifetime. Trump has expressed interest in such an endeavor, wondering why the space agency has been focused on the moon.

“I’m heading to the Great State of Texas to watch the launch of the largest object ever to be elevated, not only to Space, but simply by lifting off the ground. Good luck to Elon Musk and the Great Patriots involved in this incredible project!” the president-elect posted Tuesday on the conservative social media network Truth Social before the test flight.

Musk has transformed the space business by creating reusable booster rockets that cut costs, such as the company’s workhorse Falcon 9, which sends satellites into space. Reusing the Super Heavy booster dramatically cuts costs, with each booster powered by 33 engines fueled by methane. The reusable upper Starship spacecraft is powered by six engines.

Musk, who splits time also managing Tesla and his other companies, was appointed by Trump last week to lead a Department of Government Efficiency agency with former Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy. However, many details remain to be worked out — the department doesn’t even exist yet.