More than two years into bargaining and just hours before an indefinite strike was set to begin, the UC reached a contract with a union representing more than 40,000 employees.
Its members – who have been in negotiations with the University since January 2024 – will decide whether or not to ratify it Tuesday to Thursday.
[Related: AFSCME Local 3299 reaches contract with UC after 2 years, cancels indefinite strike]
Contracts for the American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents skilled craft, service and patient care workers, expired in July 2024 and October 2024. The union has struck five times since November 2024, alleging the UC bargained in bad faith and committed unfair labor practice violations.
The tentative contract – which members will vote on Tuesday to Thursday – includes annual wage increases amounting to 19% and an additional 8% in step increases over the life of the contract. Union members will also be able to negotiate shift differentials – or pay for less desirable shifts or additional work – and on-call pay, under the new contract.
The agreement also includes protections for seniority rights. It would require that development days do not overlap with personal days and prevent the UC from requiring employees to work at several campuses or medical centers, such as UCLA and UC San Diego.
However, the contract does not include any stipulations about housing, which had been a major bargaining item for AFSCME Local 3299 throughout negotiations.
A ballot measure that would support housing efforts for UC employees has received enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, said Monica Martinez, the union’s patient care vice president. The initiative, also known as the California State University Staff First-Time Homebuyer Down Payment Loan Program Initiative, would require the UC to establish a down-payment loan system for first-time homebuyers who have worked at the University for at least five years – with a cap of 300 loans.
“The university could have just come to the bargaining table and offer housing – the affordable housing we’re asking for,” Martinez said. “We filed our measure, it’s going to be on the ballot and we’re going to have California voters make that decision.”
She added that she is excited about better healthcare benefits and higher wages, and she expects union members to vote to ratify the contract.
AFSCME Local 3299 reached the contract after constant bargaining in the week before the strike was set to begin, the union said in a Thursday press release.
“Tomorrow, 42,000 UC Service and Patient Care Technical workers will not be on strike,” said Michael Avant, the union’s president, in the press release. “They will be back at work, doing what they love—serving UC patients and students. And we will be urging our members to vote YES on ratifying this new agreement.”
The UC Office of the President said in a Thursday statement that it is glad to have reached a contract with the union, adding that it addresses affordability issues.
Omar Laguna, a medical assistant for UCLA Health Pasadena Pediatrics, said in a texted statement that they are planning to vote against ratification. Many union members felt blindsided and discouraged by the last-minute agreement, they added in the text.
“The issue isn’t that workers weren’t willing to fight — many of us WERE ready to strike because we felt the contract proposals weren’t moving enough to address the real issues frontline employees deal with every day,” Laguna said in the text. “Many workers had already mentally, financially, and emotionally prepared themselves to strike because they believed that was the only way real pressure would be applied to move negotiations forward.”
Laguna said in the text that they believe the agreement’s conditions do not sufficiently address wage, staffing, workload or cost of living concerns, adding that they feel the union’s leaders became disconnected from its members.
The union disabled comments on its Instagram posts announcing the new contract as of Tuesday afternoon. Laguna said the move came after they – and other members of the union – had criticized the new contract in the comments of posts made by the union.
An AFSCME Local 3299 spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the union’s leaders consistently communicate with its members about workplace concerns and contracts.
The union monitors content on its social media accounts to ensure that people do not spread incorrect information, the spokesperson added in the statement.
“Others who are not members of the union can (and often do) exploit social media to build followers, advance personal agendas, peddle misinformation, or interfere in our union’s Democratic process,” the spokesperson said in the statement.
“Many members are not anti-union — we believe in unions and worker solidarity. That’s exactly why people are speaking up,” they said in the text. “Workers want a union that is transparent, listens to members, keeps workers informed throughout negotiations, and fights aggressively for contracts that truly improve workers’ lives instead of presenting last-minute agreements that leave many employees disappointed.”
Martinez said the union’s goal was to secure the best conditions for members while balancing the UC’s interests throughout bargaining.
“It is a negotiation, and it’s a give and take,” she said. “The University needed to make sure that they felt they made some kind of gain or that they were able to hold the line on something.”
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