Statewide Strike Vote on February 3rd
Step increases were not processed for the first full pay period in January because, after 7 months of bargaining, UC continues to bargain in bad faith and has refused to engage over our bargaining priorities meaningfully.
A statewide strike authorization vote will begin on February 3rd. This vote will ask you to authorize UPTE leadership to call strikes in response to UC's ongoing bad-faith bargaining or other unfair labor practices UC commits, failure to agree to your bargaining priorities, and in solidarity with our AFSCME 3299 siblings who are also fighting for similar demands to protect our patients, research, and students.
Instead of bargaining in good faith to address your concerns, UC has refused to provide information and has insisted on maintaining illegal restrictions on our ability to advocate for ourselves, our patients, our research, and our students. If UC continues to commit unfair labor practices, we must be ready to hold it accountable statewide.
Right now, UC is offering only 11% in across-the-board increases through 2028 - 19% less than we are asking for and 5% less than they agreed to with CNA-represented nurses from 2022-2025 - while removing limits on increases to healthcare costs.
UC has not made meaningful movement on our demands for reclassification, work-life balance, job security, or staffing. Click here to see a side-by-side comparison of our proposals and UC's.
Accepting UC's proposals or allowing them to continue bargaining in bad faith will only deepen the crisis of recruitment and retention that is threatening all of the important work that we do, including keeping the world safe from a bird flu pandemic.
While our October strike vote was limited to UCSF, we will be voting - and need to be prepared to strike - at every campus, clinic, hospital, and laboratory moving forward.
The next step in negotiations - mediation - has been scheduled for January 28-29. While we hope that UC will engage in mediation in good faith, UC has shown no inclination to do so at the bargaining table. Neither mediation nor the impasse process ultimately requires UC to make movement in their bargaining proposals - that is ultimately up to our willingness to take collective action. Click here for a brief explanation of the "impasse" process.
Make sure that all of your colleagues are prepared to vote YES to strike and to be on the picket line for as many days as needed.
Dan Russell
UPTE President
UPTE Bargaining Team Chief Negotiator
UC Berkeley Business Technical Support Analyst 3