UPTE President Dan Russell: “More than a year before we begin our next contract negotiations, UPTE is more prepared than it has ever been.”

“More than a year before we begin our next contract negotiations, UPTE is more prepared than it has ever been thanks to the hard work of hundreds of Unit and Workplace Representatives.

Thousands of you have already participated in hundreds of contract priority meetings, big and small, over the past 2 months. These are the first step toward a strong, collective understanding of what we want to improve and what it will take to win for all 18,000 of us.

It is exciting to hear the issues that we are passionate to fight for in order to improve patient care, research, and education by recruiting and retaining dedicated staff. Those of us who were not here for our previous contract campaign, which included 5 strikes over 8 days, have been inspired by the historic victory of UAW academic workers after their recent 5-week strike.

No less inspiring is the quieter victory of UC nurses, who recently won 23% raises over just 3 years, as well as improvements in job security and scheduling. Nurses have built and maintained strong organization at UC over many years, which was on display in massive participation in a 2018 strike and countless mobilizations during the COVID pandemic. 

While the most pressing issue on almost everyone's mind is the need to win raises that keep up with inflation, other issues are close behind: career development, flexible scheduling and remote work, increased vacation/PTO accruals and rights to use vacation/PTO, banning outsourcing, improving layoff rights, career conversion for per diems, and more. 

The work that we do now to make sure that each and every one of our colleagues has a discussion about their contract priorities is crucial to building toward the highest possible participation as we get closer to negotiations. If your colleagues haven't already filled out a contract priority form, please have a conversation with them today! Reach out to your UPTE Organizer if you would like help facilitating this conversation, whether with one person or a whole group."

-Dan Russell
UPTE President