Bargaining continues between UC and UPTE with compensation proposals
UPTE states that although UC's proposal has improved from previous proposals, it still "leaves a lot to be desired."
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The University of California (UC) is offering employees represented by the Union of Professional and Technical Employees CWA Local 9119 (UPTE) wage increases totaling $260 million. The wage increases were offered during bargaining on August 16 and would affect more than 18,000 UC employees by as much as 21% over a 3 year contract, according to a news release. The proposed wage increases comes after UPTE and UC began negotiating a new contract with UPTE in June.1
"We are excited to offer this to employees to recognize their hard work and impact on the University of California system," said Missy Matella, associate vice president for Systemwide Employee and Labor Relations, in the release. "These employees offer essential services to ensure the University delivers impactful patient experiences and enhances lives through education, research and health care. In a budget year with constraints across our system, we have prioritized our union members' compensation to reflect our appreciation and the value they provide."
The wage proposals for healthcare, research support, and technical professionals include a 5% annual increase effective July 1, 2025, a 3% annual increase effective July 1, 2026, and a 3 percent annual increase effective July 1, 2027, which is contingent on state budget allocation. UC also increased wages by 3% on July 1, 2024 and anticipate a 2% step increase in January 2025.1
Currently, the systemwide average annual compensation for a UPTE-represented healthcare worker is around $154,000, with 70% making an average of $173,000, according to the release. The proposed wage increases, if approved by UPTE, would boost average compensation to $182,000 for healthcare workers, with 70% making $204,000 by the end of the UC contract in 2027.1
The proposal also includes “expanded sick leave provisions, expanded review processes for reclassification requests, additional holidays, and an expanded definition of holiday time pay,” the release said. “We've heard from our UPTE-represented employees that work-life balance is a priority for them, and we want to recognize their priorities with proposals to address them while balancing our duty to provide critical patient care across the system," Matella said in the release.
However, in a recent bargaining update, UPTE said this compensation proposal “leaves a lot to be desired,” citing inflation as 1 of the reasons why the wages remain unsatisfactory.2 During the bargaining session, UPTE’s payment proposal included a 9% raise in 2025 and 8% raises in 2026 and 2027 respectively. UPTE also included a 5% raise and a $25 minimum wage retroactive to July 2023, while UC included no retroactive raise and a $25 minimum in July 2025. Additionally, UPTE included 10% evening and 15% night and weekend shift differentials, while UC’s proposal did not include shift differentials. UPTE also added that no vacation increases, no guaranteed right to use vacation, and no right to cash out vacation was included in UC’s proposal.2
“While this is far from what we deserve, it is a much better proposal than the University has made at this point in previous negotiations,” UPTE stated in its update. “They see our growing power — and that should give us confidence that we can win better wages and improvements in career progression, work-life balance, staffing, and job security—if we keep building our collective strength.”
References:
UC offers historic wage increases to UPTE-represented employees. News release. University of California. August 19, 2024. Accessed August 20, 2024.
Bargaining updated #5: UC finally makes a compensation proposal – and it leaves a lot of be desired. UPTE-CWA 9119. Accessed August 20, 2024. https://upte.org/updates/bargaining-update-5-uc-finally-makes-a-compensation-proposal-and-it-leaves-a-lot-to-be-desired
