Bargaining begins for new contracts for Healthcare Professionals, Technical Employees and Researchers 

The University of California representatives and the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) met on June 11-13 to begin negotiating new collective bargaining agreements for you and your Healthcare Professional, Technical Employee, and Researcher colleagues. We want you to know UC’s priorities and goals for these negotiations.

Our overarching goal is a multi-year agreement reflecting your and your colleagues’ significant contributions to UC. Specific priorities include:

• Fair pay and quality benefits: We are committed to ensuring that you are compensated fairly for your work. We offer comprehensive health and family-friendly benefits. 
• Supportive working conditions: Ensuring a safe, respectful, and supportive workplace environment for all employees is a top UC priority.
• Good-faith, efficient negotiations: Negotiations are most successful when both sides come to the table with an open mind, a genuine willingness to listen and be flexible, and a good-faith commitment to productive, respectful negotiations. 
• Regular updates: We believe it is important to keep you informed about negotiations throughout the process. We will provide regular bargaining updates and other communications as circumstances warrant. 

On June 11-13, UPTE passed articles on revamping the classification series and the hiring process for vacant positions. UC passed ground rules and proposals to revise the dues process, arbitration proceedings, and the agreement.

The University values and maintains a long-standing partnership with UPTE and is committed to negotiating agreements that support our workforce and uphold the institution’s mission. UC will carefully review the union’s proposals, assess costs and feasibility, and consider how the proposals meet the parties’ shared interests. The next scheduled negotiation sessions are June 25-26.

We are committed to making fair proposals that recognize the important services you provide. Our proposals are not meant to be a mere “starting point” but rather reasonable offers that honor our valued employees. Throughout bargaining, we will provide updated information to keep you informed.