The UPTE Difference
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“UPTE contracts are the result of 30 years of career healthcare, research, and technical professionals standing together to advocate for ourselves, our patients, research, and students. We have protected benefits that UC has consistently stripped from non-union workers on everything from retirement to job security. Our members also come together in their workplaces to advocate for improvements and push back on bad ideas from management.
Join UPTE today to enjoy these benefits and help us build even more power.”
UPTE President
UPTE Chief Negotiator
Business Technical Support Analyst, UC Berkeley
Dan Russell
| UPTE Contract at UC | Non-union workers at UC | |
|---|---|---|
| Keeping our benefits | Maintain PTO, CEMRP/IAP, Ed Time, and other title specific arrangements upon joining UPTE, and for as long as it takes to reach title-specific agreements with UC | No guarantees—changes can be made any time at UC’s discretion |
| Fair pay | Guaranteed annual raises and step increases totaling each year: - 2025: 8% or more - 2026: 7% - 2027: 6% - 2028: 6% - Daily overtime after 8 hours of work and double-time after 12 hours of work for hourly workers - Opportunity for additional pay increases for internal and market equity |
No guaranteed raises or step increases: - 2025: 0% - 3.2% - 2026: No guarantee - 2027: No guarantee - 2028: No guarantee - No daily overtime - No right to equity reviews |
| Pension | - Retire 5 years earlier—begin retirement at 50 and receive max pension age multiplier at 60 - No PEPRA cap on pensionable earnings - Ability to take a lump sum payout at retirement - How retirement works for newly-represented UPTE titles |
- Begin retirement at 55 and maximize benefits at 65 if hired after July 2013 - Pension earnings capped at $155,081 (2025) if hired after July 2016 - No lump sum cashout option if hired after July 2013 |
| Healthcare | - Save up to $230/month in 2026 on Kaiser and Blue and Gold HMOs compared to non-union rates. Jump to your plan. - Annual caps on monthly employee premium cost increases and subsidies in 2027 & 2028 |
No limit on healthcare premiums—changes can be made any time at UC’s discretion |
| Job security | - Guaranteed "Alternatives to Layoffs" including the right to be offered open positions elsewhere to avoid layoff - Seniority rights and up to 3 years of preferential recall and rehire rights or severance in case of layoff - Right to Preferential Rehire at all campuses, not just your home campus - Jobs cannot be replaced by contractors - Just cause protections against unfair corrective action |
- No guarantees—management’s discretion - No protection from subcontracting or unfair discipline - Non-represented jobs often targeted for layoffs |
| Career progression | - 40 Professional Development Hours can be used remotely and on days off - Reclassification process with 90 day deadline, appeals panel, and more |
- No right to use Professional Development hours remotely or on weekends - No right to be properly classified for the work you preform |
| Remote work protections | - Commitment to support remote work where possible - 30-day minimum notice for changes in remote/hybrid schedules - Right to meet with management to advocate for remote work |
- No remote work protections - No voice in possible changes to remote/hybrid schedules |
| A voice at work | A powerful, collective voice to advocate for ourselves on workplace and profession-specific issues | No voice and none of the guaranteed rights, protections, or benefits negotiated by a union |
How retirement works for newly-represented UPTE titles
For a more extensive guide to how retirement benefits work, please review the UCRP Retirement Handbook and other information provided by UC.
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If you are currently accruing service credit in the 2013/2016 pension tier or savings choice plan, you will instead begin accruing service credit in the 2013 modified pension tier within 90 days and will contribute 9% of salary per month (previously 7%) to UCRP.
If you are currently accruing service credit in the 1976 tier, your benefits will not change. You will begin contributing 9% of salary per month (previously 8%) to UCRP within 90 days.
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In 2013, UPTE members decided to increase their contributions to 9% in order to protect the pension and guarantee all members’ right to retire at 50 and maximize our age multiplier at 60. This has kept our union united—instead of leaving those hired after 2013 with inferior retirement benefits—allowing us to win significant raises and reductions in healthcare premiums (far more than the increased contributions, benefitting even those who may not work at UC long enough to vest in the pension) and keep our pension strong (benefiting even those who are already in the 1976 tier).
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No, you vest in any pension benefits after a cumulative five years of service, regardless of what plan you have participated in. Years of service in the Savings Choice plan still count toward vesting in the pension; however those years do not count toward service credit for pension benefit calculations.
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Yes, but any automatic/mandatory contributions under the Savings Choice plan will discontinue. You will need to elect a contribution amount going forward if you have not already done so.
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You can choose to cash out your pension contributions, plus interest. However, if you cash out your contributions and return to UC in the future then you would have to re-start a new five-year vesting period.
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If you have accumulated service credit in multiple pension tiers, you will draw on multiple “pools” of retirement benefits based on the service credit you accumulate in each tier. If you were in the Savings Choice plan, you will keep those contributions and can continue to make your own contributions even after you are moved into the 2013 modified pension tier. See the following examples:
Example 1: Sam was hired in 2017 and their title became represented in 2023. Sam elected the pension choice at hire. Sam had six years of service credit in the 2016 pension tier when they became UPTE represented and began accruing service credit in the 2013 modified tier in 2023.
Sam was immediately vested in their 2013 modified tier “pool” because they already had five years of service. If Sam remains in an UPTE-represented position until they retire, they would receive benefits from their two tiers of accruals based on the amount of service credit and the benefit formula for each tier.
Example 2: Andy was hired in 2022 and their title became represented in 2024. Andy elected the savings choice at hire. Andy began accruing benefits in the 2013 modified pension tier in 2024 and their pension benefits will be vested in 2027 when they have five years of service credit.
Example 3: Leila was hired in 2008, but left UC in 2014. She was re-hired into a non-union title in 2022 and her title became represented in 2023. She elected pension choice when she was rehired in 2022 and retired in 2025. Leila has one year of service credit in the 2016 pension tier, six years of service in the 1976 tier, and two years of service in the 2013 modified tier. She will receive benefits from her three tiers of accruals based on the amount of service credit and the benefit formula for each tier. Leila was immediately vested in her 2016 and 2013 modified pension benefits because she already had more than five years of cumulative service credit.
Defeating UC’s Two-Tier Pension Scheme
In 2013 and 2017 contract negotiations, UC attempted to divide our union by raising the retirement age by 5 years and capping pensionable income for new hires.
UPTE members fought alongside AFSCME Local 3299 and the California Nurses Association, successfully keeping all of our members on the same pension tier in exchange for an additional 1% employee pension contribution. Thanks to this win, thousands of members hired since 2013 have maintained the ability to maximize their retirement benefits at age 60 instead of 65.
Keeping our union united around the same pension benefits also allowed us to win the highest wage increases in our history in our 2019-2024 contracts, more than offsetting the additional pension contribution!