The University of California and representatives of about 16,000 unionized patient care workers have reached a tentative contract agreement.
The deal, which union members must approve, covers university patient care workers represented by AFSCME 3299. It includes wage increases of 6 percent across the board upon a signed contract, and limits on the university's ability to outsource bargaining unit work to private contractors, the union and university said in their respective news releases.
University service workers also have reached a tentative contract agreement with university administrators.
"After nearly three years without a contract, AFSCME-represented UC service and patient care workers have now each succeeded in reaching agreements that strengthen middle-class career pathways at UC and create enforceable reforms to staffing practices that have been entirely incompatible with UC's core public mission," AFSCME 3299 President Kathryn Lybarger said in the union news release. "This victory is a testament to our members' commitment to their families, to each other and to the students and patients we are proud to serve each day."
The deal for patient care workers comes on the heels of a strike by service and patient care technical workers in November over the alleged illegal outsourcing of jobs. After the walkout, the university's board of regents proposed policy reforms related to outsourcing that were incorporated into the tentative agreement, according to the union, which represents more than 26,000 service and patient technical workers at University of California campuses, medical centers and other facilities.
University Board of Regents Chair John A. Pérez said in a news release that the tentative contracts "provide hardworking UC employees with the benefits and protections they deserve, and it moves UC closer to being the kind of employer we need to be."
More information about the deals is available here.