UC-UAW Labor Negotiation Updates

Dear Tritons,

We are pleased to be able to inform you that the University of California has reached tentative agreements with the United Auto Workers (UAW) on contracts for Graduate Student Researchers (GSR) and Academic Student Employees (ASE). The tentative agreements are still subject to ratification by the UAW membership.

Thank you for your continued flexibility and compassion during this time. We appreciate everyone’s dedication to the well-being of all of our undergraduate and graduate students.

Best regards,

Elizabeth H. Simmons
Executive Vice Chancellor

Corinne Peek-Asa
Vice Chancellor, Research

James Soto Antony
Dean, Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs

December 19, 2022

TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY:

After months of negotiations, a strike, and disruptions on our campuses, I am pleased to inform you that UC has reached a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers (UAW) regarding the Graduate Student Researchers (GSR) and Academic Student Employees (ASE) contracts. Union members are expected to vote on the tentative agreements in the coming days.

With these agreements, student employees are expected to cease any picketing.

The tentative agreements include new minimum salary scales for Academic Student Employees, including Teaching Assistants, and Graduate Student Researchers, as well as multiyear pay increases, paid dependent access to university health care and enhanced paid family leave. Additional information about the agreements is available here.

We believe these agreements honor the vital contributions our ASEs and GSRs make to UC’s teaching and research activities and uphold UC’s tradition of supporting them with compensation and benefits packages that are among the best in the country. The agreements also help ensure that UC continues to be extremely competitive as a top research institution.

Following the strike, we will be working to restore healthy relationships across the system including healthy labor-management relations. On behalf of everyone at the Office of the President who has been involved with these negotiations, I want to thank all members of the University community for their patience and commitment during this challenging period. I also want to thank our campus labor relations and academic personnel colleagues for their partnership throughout the negotiations.

Respectfully,

Letitia Silas
Executive Director, Systemwide Labor Relations