Frequently Asked Questions

  • Wage scale bargaining is our chance to come together as 12,000+ UC professional staff and negotiate a step-based wage scale. The UC-UAW staff contract already includes significant wage increases (at least 27.8% over 4 years), but it also outlines the framework for our wage scale - each title must have at least 19 steps on the scale, there must be a 2% increase in each step, and workers will be placed on the scale based on years of experience. In negotiations over the implementation of these terms, we have the opportunity to win fair placement on wage scales, equity with employees in the same/similar titles at our worksites, and wages that compete with the job market at large.

  • The strongest determining factor in what workers are able to win in wage scale bargaining is the number of us who join the effort. If you want to join the fight for a strong wage scale, you should start by:

  • In the last year, 12,000 UC professional staff organized to join UAW and won a groundbreaking contract, with protections from bullying in the workplace and arbitrary return-to-office orders that set new industry standards. UAW workers also won dramatic improvements to childcare benefits, the right to transition from contract to career status, and more. Unrepresented staff can organize to join UAW, participate in wage scale bargaining, and receive the same raises as their UC-UAW colleagues. The more staff join UAW, the more power we all have to win a strong wage scale that builds on the raises in the contract! 

  • Currently, workers are placed on a salary “grade” when they are hired, which is a pay range with a minimum, midpoint, and maximum. UC has no obligation to account for years of experience when placing or moving workers along that range. Workers can receive yearly increases, but these increases apply evenly across the whole range and thus do not move workers any further along the range, or closer to the top. Under the UC-UAW staff contract, workers receive 4-5% increases every July, and on top of that will receive a 2% step-increase every January in recognition of years of service once the step-based system is negotiated and in place.