This post was updated May 22 at 12:29 p.m.
A union that represents more than 40,000 workers – and that has been in negotiations with the UC for more than two years – voted to ratify a contract with the University on Friday.
The American Federation of State, City and Municipal Employees Local 3299 – which represents service, patient care and skilled craft workers across the UC – reached a contract with the University hours before it was set to begin an indefinite strike May 14. About 96% of participating members voted to ratify the contract, according to a Friday AFSCME Local 3299 press release.
[Related: AFSCME Local 3299 reaches contract with UC after 2 years, cancels indefinite strike]
Contracts for AFSCME Local 3299 expired in July 2024 and October 2024. The union has struck five times since November 2024, alleging the UC engaged in bad faith bargaining and unfair labor practices.
The union reached the tentative agreement after continuous negotiations with the UC in the week leading up to the strike, the union said in a May 14 press release.
AFSCME Local 3299’s will expire Nov. 30, 2029.
The contract will also give a $1,500 payment to permanent employees and increase the union’s minimum wage to $30.10 by April 2029. The agreement also includes annual wage increases amounting to 19% and additional 8% step increases over the life of the contract.
The contract will provide union members with continued pay during emergencies and alternatives to being laid off, including retraining opportunities. The contract also requires that laid-off employees receive one week of severance pay for each year of employment, ranging from two to 16 weeks of pay.
Under the contract, union members will also receive pay when they miss meals and breaks. The UC is also not allowed to disqualify members from transferring shifts or locations – even if they had transferred in the previous 12 months or were disciplined in the previous six months.
The new contract does not include housing provisions, which union members previously demanded, including during public comment at a May UC Board of Regents meeting.
“I was homeless while working here, sleeping in tents, sleeping at bus stops, in homeless shelters,” said Deshundre Richee, a member of AFSCME Local 3299, at the meeting. “I am one emergency away from being back on the streets, and yet you tell us that there’s no money, no solution, no real effort to address the housing crisis or provide livable wages.”
However, a ballot measure that would support housing for UC employees gathered enough signatures to appear on the California ballot in November, according to AFSCME Local 3299’s website. The University of California Support Staff Down Payment Loans measure would require the UC to create a down payment loan system for first-time homebuyers who have worked for the University for at least five years.
The program would be capped at 300 loans per year, and the loans would cover up to 20% of the purchase price of the house. Once the signatures receive state verification, the initiative will appear on the state ballot.
