Next bargaining session July 8–9: UC stonewalls, recruitment crisis deepens

Tuesday, July 8, and Wednesday, July 9, will be our 13th bargaining session, and UC is refusing to provide a bargaining location at either UC Berkeley or UC San Francisco. We are looking into alternative locations in the Bay Area.

Our next bargaining session with UC

Tuesday, July 8 & Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Location and time to be determined.

After more than a year of bargaining, why is UC not doing its part to reach a fair agreement that addresses the recruitment and retention crisis?

The most recent state budget has restored UC's expected funding completely—and thus far, no major federal funding cuts have been made. Yet UC continues to use uncertainty as an excuse to dig in their heels on the same unfair proposals they made a year ago.

We hope that incoming UC President James B. Milliken will recognize that our demands are reasonable and that now is the time to settle a contract that will end the recruitment and retention crisis. 

Under President Milliken's leadership at the City University of New York, workers started their careers with eight more days off per year (sick, vacation, and holidays combined) than UPTE members do, and have 15 more days off per year than we do after ten years of service. They also receive up to four days of bereavement leave per year, which does not count against their sick leave accruals.

However, UC has thus far refused any increase in paid time off—even though other UC employees already receive up to nine days more off per year than we do.

UC refuses to guarantee that workers facing layoff will be offered vacant positions for which they are qualified, despite having already agreed to this with our colleagues represented by AFSCME 3299 and the California Nurses Association. This proposal would save UC the cost of a talent search and allow it to retain crucial institutional knowledge.

UC offers a pay proposal that would leave us 5% behind UC nurses in 2025—and has no raises or steps in 2028.

We are all too aware of the consequences of accepting their proposals: more of our colleagues would leave, patient wait times would increase, and the quality of care, research, and education would continue to decline.

We won't let that happen.

In solidarity,

Dan Russell
UPTE President & Chief Negotiator
Business Technology Support Analyst, UC Berkeley