Bargaining Update #6: "We are not going to watch our talented and committed colleagues leave while our patients, our research, and our students suffer."
Your UPTE bargaining team was back at the table with management on August 28 - 29 at UC Davis. You can find a summary of UPTE and the University’s proposals made in previous sessions here. UPTE and the University made the following proposals:
| UPTE | UC |
|---|---|
| Freeze Healthcare Rates at 2024 Levels Option for Per Diems who work at least 50% time to convert to Career |
Make contract enforcement via arbitration more time consuming & expensive Make it harder for your co-workers who act as union reps to address issues at work |
We are now less than 2 months from our contracts’ expiration and UC is showing no urgency to reach an agreement.
Last week, a member at UC Davis who has given 19 years of her life to the University told UC negotiators that she relies on food pantries to make ends meet. UC’s response? The same as always: “You have our proposal, we look forward to a counterproposal.”
UC isn’t just rejecting our proposals - they are refusing to even acknowledge that issues like fair pay and compensation, work-life balance, job security, or staffing deserve serious consideration or discussion.
Fortunately, we are not alone. Last week, leading Mayoral candidates Aaron Peskin and Flojaune Cofer joined our rallies in San Francisco and Sacramento to let UPTE members know that they have our backs and are prepared to walk the picket lines with us. Over the past two weeks, thousands of UPTE members attended mass rallies and signed our pledge to strike.
None of us want to strike, but we are not going to watch our talented and committed colleagues leave while our patients, our research, and our students suffer. We need to be ready to strike if that is the only thing that will convince UC to take our demands and their legal obligations seriously.
Sign our strike pledge today at upte.org/strike. All of us need to be ready to vote YES to strike and walk the picket line, if UC doesn’t change course and FAST.
In solidarity,
Dan Russell
UPTE President & Chief Negotiator