Just one day after hundreds of unionized workers marched through UC Santa Barbara in a coordinated statewide practice picket, negotiators for the University of California and United Auto Workers Local 4811 announced tentative agreements covering roughly 40,000 employees across the system.
The agreements — reached late Friday — apply to about 28,000 academic student employees as well as roughly 12,000 student services and advising professionals and research and public service professionals, according to a union statement. If ratified, the contracts would mark the first time many of the staff employees would be covered by a union agreement.
Union leaders said the breakthrough was a direct result of organizing efforts and recent demonstrations.
“We are proud to have reached agreements that will improve the quality of life — and the quality of education and research — for the University of California community,” said Rafael Jaime, president of UAW Local 4811, in a press release. “At a time when higher education and research itself is under attack, we are standing together to say that our work matters, our rights matter, and our future matters.”
A systemwide ratification vote is scheduled to run from Tuesday, March 17, through Friday, March 20.
The tentative agreements come after weeks of escalating tension between the union and university administrators. Workers had accused UC of committing unfair labor practices and warned that a strike could follow if negotiations stalled. At Thursday’s demonstration at UCSB, roughly 300 employees marched through campus carrying signs calling for fair pay, job security, and protections for international workers.
University officials described the new agreements as the product of sustained negotiations.
“We are grateful to achieve agreements that mutually benefit the university’s academic student employees and new staff units,” said Missy Matella, associate vice president for systemwide employee and labor relations at the UC Office of the President. She said bargaining teams on both sides remained committed to “productive, good-faith negotiations” throughout the process.
According to union materials, proposed provisions for staff employees include step-based wage increases totaling nearly 28 percent over four years, caps on health insurance premium increases, stronger job security language, and protections related to hybrid and remote work arrangements.
For academic student employees — including graduate student instructors and teaching assistants — the tentative agreement includes raises tied to experience and appointment level, expanded immigration-related protections, and measures intended to address pay disparities across campuses and job classifications.
Union representatives also highlighted provisions related to childcare benefits, dependent healthcare access, and minimum appointment standards for certain graduate students.
Details of the four-year contracts are expected to be released following the ratification vote.
