The UC reached tentative agreements with three United Auto Workers units that had threatened to strike, the units announced Friday.
The tentative agreement, if approved, will become the first contracts for Student Services and Advising Professionals-UAW and Research and Public Service Professionals-UAW, which were officially recognized by the University in April and September, respectively. Members of UAW Local 4811 – which represents academic student employees, including teaching assistants – also came to a tentative agreement for a new contract after theirs expired Feb. 28.
SSAP-UAW and RPSP-UAW will receive a minimum 27.8% raise over four years through a step wage system as well as a ratification bonus, caps on increases to health insurance premiums, greater job security, and protections for hybrid and remote work arrangements, according to a joint Instagram post.
UAW Local 4811’s tentative agreement terms include raises of up to 45% for TAs and graduate student researchers, as well as up to 62% for hourly workers over the life of the contract. The terms also eliminate pay disparities across all UC campuses. It includes a $400,000 legal fund for international workers – as well as guaranteed rehiring rights if an international worker loses and regains their visa – and three weeks of paid visa leave, according to a Friday email sent by the UAW Local 4811 bargaining committee to union members.
“Because tens of thousands of ASEs organized, took action, and stood together, we won a tentative agreement that sets a new standard for higher ed contracts across the country,” the committee said in the email.
The units held a Thursday “last chance” demonstration in which they threatened to call for a strike if bargaining demands were not met.
[Related: UC UAW units may strike ‘as soon as next week’ if University doesn’t meet demands]
They previously authorized an unfair labor practice strike Feb. 13, with about 93% of participating members voting “yes.” The authorization does not immediately set off a strike but instead allows the union to call one if they deem it necessary.
However, UAW will now not call on its workers to strike, RPSP-UAW and SSAP-UAW said in the Instagram post.
“After an immense display of unity and readiness to strike against UC management’s unlawful bargaining practices, a full tentative agreement has been reached!” the units said in the post.
The UC’s academic and research employees went on the largest strike in United States higher education history in 2022. The union went on strike again in spring 2024 in protest of the UC’s use of force against and arrests of pro-Palestine protestors across UC campuses.
RPSP-UAW and SSAP-UAW recently filed unfair labor practice charges against the UC for alleged bad faith bargaining and failing to provide information pertinent to negotiations. UAW Local 4811 filed charges for alleged failures to respond to information requests, capping teaching assistant appointments and the arrests of two union members on UCLA’s campus in November.
[Related: UCPD releases arrested graduate students after finding they did not commit a crime]
A spokesperson for UAW Local 4811 did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the terms of its agreement. A UC Office of the President spokesperson also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on reaching the tentative agreement.
The units will hold a ratification vote from 9 a.m. March 17 to 5 p.m. March 20.
