UC offers significant financial proposals to AFSCME for patient care technical and service employees

• Negotiations held on May 20-21 between UC and AFSCME for Patient Care Technical and Service employees
• Sesiones de negociación del 20 y 21 de mayo entre la UC y AFSCME para los empleados de servicio y atención técnica al paciente 

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During its June 17-18 bargaining sessions, the University of California passed a strong new economic and healthcare proposal to the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Union (AFSCME) for Patient Care Technical and Service employees. This new wage proposal offers AFSCME-represented employees increases totaling 26% over the course of a five-year contract for eligible employees. The proposal also reflects the new budget realities facing public entities across the state. Details about UC’s significant package proposal are outlined below.

UC also presented other articles for both units in this robust package on performance evaluation, discipline, and transfer. However, the main focus of this session was on the wage and healthcare proposals detailed below.

UC’s wage offer

Under UC’s new and improved wage offer, all AFSCME-represented employees would be guaranteed multi-year pay increases, with minimum wages for the lowest-paid employees raised to $25 per hour by July 1, 2025, instead of 2026. This faster timeline will allow employees to reach the $25 per hour goal ten months sooner than UC’s previous offer, making a significant financial difference for service and patient care technical workers currently earning less.

Lowest-paid employees would receive significant wage increases in year one

Below are examples of the overall hourly wage increases for various positions in the first year of the contract if approved by the union.

In addition to increasing pay for our lowest-paid workers by July 1, 2025, UC’s offer provides employees with at least a 5% increase in 2025, including across-the-board and step compensation.

UC’s healthcare offer

The University of California understands that the cost of health care can be burdensome and is dedicated to making it accessible for all of our employees. For many years, UC has based its contributions to monthly employee healthcare premiums on salary levels to ensure lower-paid employees pay a smaller percentage of their monthly premiums. For example, in 2024, UC pays an average of:

• 91% of medical plan premiums for employees earning the full-time equivalent of $68,000 or less
• 84% of medical plan premiums for those earning $68,001 to $136,000
• 71- 77% of medical plan premiums for those earning $136,001 or more

Based on the success of the program, UC is proposing replacing the cap on healthcare costs with a two-tier salary-based monthly credit to help with affordability. For example, to assist with healthcare costs for those using Kaiser or UC Blue and Gold plan, employees in the first salary band receive a $100 credit per month, and the second pay band would receive a $75 per month credit. That’s a savings of $1,200 or $900 per year or $6,000 or $4,500 in healthcare credits throughout a five-year contract if the union approves the proposal. The majority of AFSCME-represented employees, 92% in pay band 1 and 87% in pay band 2, use Kaiser or the UC Blue and Gold plan, showing that our healthcare proposal heavily benefits the majority of AFSCME-represented employees.

UC’s proposals aim to be good-faith, reasonable offers that acknowledge the valuable contributions of our employees. We are developing offers to support our employees and maintain momentum as we continue negotiations, which began in January.  UC is reviewing the union’s proposals, and the next negotiation sessions are scheduled for July 11-12. We will update you with the latest information after each bargaining session so that you can understand our actions and the reasons behind them.