March 17, 2026
Dear Colleagues:
I am pleased to share that following four weeks of confidential mediation, the University has reached tentative agreements with the United Auto Workers (UAW) for the unified Academic Student Employees (ASE – TAs, AIs, Fellows, Readers, Tutors) and Graduate Student Researchers (GSR) bargaining unit, as well as the Student Services and Advising Professionals and Research and Public Service Professionals staff units. This represents a significant milestone for both the University and the UAW, and as a result, UAW has called off the strike that was previously authorized. These tentative agreements will now be put before the union membership for ratification which we believe will occur by the end of this week.
I am particularly grateful to the faculty who were central to the deliberative process. A faculty member participated directly in the mediation sessions and the UC negotiating team consulted regularly with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Academic Senate, the faculty advisory committee, and the faculty on the UC bargaining team in formulating its proposals. We are very appreciative of their advice and counsel during the course of bargaining and mediation.
Because of their engagement, and the good faith and collaboration of our union partners, the tentative agreement meets the priorities of UAW members while also being fiscally responsible, sustainable, and attentive to the impact on faculty-funded research. We recognize that Principal Investigators are under a lot of pressure to meet the financial obligations of their grants and that no increase is easy to absorb. Similarly, the University’s instructional budget is constrained. Nonetheless, in the spirit of common commitment to the teaching and research mission of the University, we made every effort to find meaningful compromises.
After the UAW’s ratification vote concludes and there is an agreement on a new contract with the UAW, I will follow up with specific details.
Finally, I wish to thank you for all your efforts to prepare academic continuity contingency plans; I am grateful they were not needed. Please share this message with all faculty to convey my appreciation of their dedication, insights, and sustained efforts throughout this process.
Best wishes,
