On May 20-21, the University of California and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Union (AFSCME) met to continue negotiating for new Patient Care Technical and Service employee contracts. During two days of negotiations, UC and AFSCME discussed the duration of the new agreement (Article 2) for Patient Care Technical and Service units. UC has proposed a five-year contract that creates stability and annual increases.

The parties have reached a tentative agreement on Article 23 for SX and Article 22 for EX, which deals with non-discrimination. The agreed-upon changes create broader rights and more inclusive protections for the UC community, furthering UC’s mission to enhance, maintain, and ensure a healthy and equitable work environment for these valued employees.

The UC has also proposed expanding the sick leave policy to provide enhanced sick leave protections for employees. For the first time, sick leave benefits will be provided to employees who work less than full-time. UC is excited to offer this expanded benefit to its employees, who may use their accrued sick leave to care for themselves, their spouse or domestic partner, or other family members. The expansion of sick leave adds to the list of UC’s recent benefit enhancements, which include pay for family care, bonding, and protected leave following reproductive losses.

UC continues to review the union's proposals, assessing costs and feasibility and considering how the proposals meet the parties’ shared interests. The next scheduled negotiation sessions are June 17-18. The University is dedicated to making fair proposals reflecting your critical services. UC’s proposals are designed to be reasonable offers that represent our valued employees. We’ll continue to provide up-to-date information after each bargaining session so you understand what we are doing and why.