How far behind would UC’s proposals put us?
UC hopes that uncertainty around state and federal funding, along with a newly announced statewide hiring freeze, will weaken our resolve to address the staffing crisis and convince us to accept cuts that will leave us permanently behind other workers.
Many of our departments have still not recovered from UC’s COVID hiring freeze, when our working conditions and wages fell further behind those of other workers.
Yet, UC’s assets have more than recovered. In fact, UC’s assets have doubled since 2014, and its investments grew by $16 billion to a total of $180 billion at the end of the last fiscal year.
Why is a public institution like UC hoarding tens of billions in savings if they are not prepared to invest them in public healthcare, research, and education?
What would accepting UC’s proposed cuts—and letting this crisis worsen for another 3 years—mean for our families? What would a deepening of the recruitment and retention crisis mean for our patients, our research, and our students?
| Vacation & Sick Leave | • 3-6 days/year fewer than UC managers and senior professionals • Up to 10 days/year fewer than Kaiser workers |
|---|---|
| Wages | • 5% behind UC nurses • 7% behind Kaiser workers by 2026 |
| Healthcare | • $48-299 monthly premium increase for Kaiser, Blue & Gold family plans in 2025 for Pay Band 2-4 • CORE plan, increases from $0 to $131-$550/month for family plans • Other plans increase 9% for Payband 1-2, 11% for Paybands 3-4 • $150/month copay per specialty prescription • Unlimited increases in 2026, 2027, 2028 |
How far would our wages have fallen since 2023?
| Raises | UC Nurses | Kaiser | UC to UPTE | How far behind? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 6% | 6% | 3-3.5 | 2.5-3% |
| 2024 | 5% | 5-5.25% | 3% | 4.5-5% |
| 2025 | 5% | 5% | 5% | 4.5-5% |
| 2026 | TBD | 5% | 3% | 6.5-7% |
How much less time off do we have? How much would UC’s healthcare cuts cost us? See the two charts below.
| Days/Year of PTO/Sick/Vacation | UPTE | UC Academic Researchers + Librarians | UC Managers & Senior Professionals | Kaiser UHW NorCal | Stanford | Kaiser NUHW SoCal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total at 2 years of service | 41 | 50 | 44 | 37 | 42 | 37 |
| at 5 years of service | 41 | 50 | 47 | 45 | 47 | 42 |
| 11 years of service | 44 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 51 | 52 |
| Pay Band 1 - Family | UPTE's 2024 Rates | UC Proposed 2025 Rates* | Monthly Increase for 2025 | Projected 2028 Rates** | Projected Monthly Increase by 2028** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue & Gold | $294.08 | $290.91 | $0.00 | $406.24 | $112.16 |
| Kaiser | $111.30 | $49.16 | $0.00 | $93.17 | $0.00 |
| Pay Band 2 - Family | |||||
| Blue & Gold | $411.79 | $463.24 | $51.45 | $622.04 | $210.25 |
| Kaiser | $229.01 | $277.33 | $48.32 | $381.28 | $152.27 |
| Pay Band 3 - Family | |||||
| Blue & Gold | $518.90 | $687.87 | $168.97 | $940.75 | $421.85 |
| Kaiser | $338.46 | $551.37 | $212.91 | $754.07 | $415.61 |
| Pay Band 4 - Family | |||||
| Blue & Gold | $625.97 | $832.44 | $206.47 | $1,138.47 | $512.50 |
| Kaiser | $451.84 | $750.73 | $298.89 | $1,026.72 | $574.88 |
| CORE | |||||
| Pay Band 1 - Family | $0.00 | $131.22 | Specialty Pharmaceutical Co-Pays | $150/month per perscription | |
| Pay Band 2 - Family | $0.00 | $276.46 | |||
| Pay Band 3 - Family | $0.00 | $411.11 | |||
| Pay Band 4 - Family | $0.00 | $549.96 |
*Including $100 subsidy for PB1 and $75 subsidy for PB2
**Assumes 9% annual increases for PB1/2 and 11% annual increases for PB3/4
Sources:
Dan Russell
UPTE President & Chief Negotiator
Business Technology Support Analyst, UC Berkeley
