Dear colleague:
I am very pleased to inform you that UC and the UC-AFT have reached a tentative agreement on a new multi-year contract for UC’s more than 4,000 lecturers. This is a positive development for our entire community, especially for our students. We believe this contract addresses key issues, and honors the vital role you and your colleagues play in supporting UC’s educational mission and delivering high quality instruction. We deeply appreciate your ongoing dedication and service to UC and our students, especially during the extraordinary challenges of the past year and a half brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic — thank you.
Bargaining unit members will have the opportunity to vote on the tentative agreement within the next few weeks. Once ratified, the contract will run through March 2026.
Highlights of the agreement include:
Compensation: We know the cost of living in California is high, and UC has a tradition of compensating our lecturers better than most U.S. universities. The new contract continues this tradition and includes:
- A pay increase of at least 7% for all bargaining unit members 60 days following contract ratification, in addition to an average 1.3% pay increase due to the transition to a salary scale in the first year;
- Annual pay increases of 3% for all bargaining unit members in the following three years of the contract;
- A 4% pay increase for all bargaining unit members in the final year of the contract;
- $1,500 one-time lump sum contract ratification payment.
Employment Stability: We recognize that job stability is a major concern for lecturers, especially Pre-Six Lecturers. This agreement includes significant enhancements to job stability, including:
- Guaranteed multi-year term appointments following the initial year, with the same appointment percentage in each term year, and academic reviews at the end of the appointment for all Pre-Six Lecturers on two-year or three-year appointments;
- Written feedback for Pre-Six Lecturers after their initial appointment;
- Pre-Six Lecturers’ Summer Session courses will count toward eligibility for a Continuing Appointment under certain circumstances, thus advancing the timeline under which a Pre-Six Lecturer may achieve Continuing Lecturer status;
- New contract language that encourages department chairs to consider part-time lecturers for additional assignments before recruiting external candidates;
- New contract language to ensure higher-paid lecturers are not replaced with lower-paid lecturers.
Workload: Throughout negotiations, we listened carefully to concerns about workload. The new contract provides greater transparency and fair assessment of workload assignments, workload summaries by department, and includes the creation of an academic panel to address workload issues. It also includes new language that clarifies how Instructional Workload Credits (IWCs) are determined.
Pay for family care and bonding: In addition to the many family-friendly benefits UC already offers, the new contract includes four weeks of leave at 100% of pay for all bargaining unit members.
Additional details of the tentative agreement are available from the union.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your local labor relations, human resources, or academic personnel office.
Kind Regards,
Letitia Silas
Executive Director
Systemwide Labor Relations