We are working toward collective representation for UC faculty so that faculty, not just healthcare professionals or physicians, have a meaningful voice in decisions affecting your work and future. By organizing with UPTE, faculty can win guaranteed raises, protect key benefits, and secure stronger retirement protections, including pension eligibility starting at age 50. Collective bargaining gives faculty a meaningful voice to negotiate these improvements rather than relying on administration decisions.

Union membership typically involves dues that help support bargaining, representation, organizing, legal support, and other resources for members. Union dues are 1.3% of your monthly paycheck, currently capped at $160/month. These union dues do not go into effect when you sign the union support card, but rather, once you have received your first raise after you are a part of UPTE.

No, joining UPTE will not mean losing your current UC faculty benefits. State law and UPTE’s contract requires UC to maintain status quo for employees in newly organized titles, meaning there can’t be any reduction in things like PTO, education hours, and bonuses without negotiating with UPTE first. Benefits would be part of the collective bargaining process, and the goal is to protect and improve the benefits faculty already have.

The fact that someone is a chair, supervises students, residents, or has other managerial responsibilities does not mean they will be excluded. Faculty with leadership positions have a unique view into the challenges of making faculty perspectives heard in health system decision-making, and their participation in forming our union will give confidence and strength to their colleagues. Faculty with hiring, firing, and discipline powers, and who do not spend a majority of their time performing faculty work, are legally “supervisors” and ineligible for union representation.

The form says Physicians Committee because this effort began when physicians expressed their interest in forming their union with UPTE after winning a historic contract at the end of last year. Thus began the UC Physicians Committee, and as there was clear and overwhelming interest to unionize, we began to talk to and include UC Clinical Faculty along with the physicians who are all in the HS Clinical Series title. The faculty and physicians share the same title in UC Path, so they will all be joining the healthcare bargaining unit together. The membership form, therefore, includes both physicians and faculty together and is only titled this way because that is how the effort started.

The timeline is up to all of us! The sooner we sign in support on the priorities survey and membership form, the sooner we will win representation and be able to start negotiating for our top priorities!

Right now, we are building a committee of point people in each division and specialty, engaging our colleagues to identify their top priorities, and gathering support via our union support card and priorities survey. Once a near-majority of faculty and physicians across specialties complete our survey, we will hold a union election for all faculty and physicians to vote to form a union. California's Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) certifies majority support for unionization. Non-senate physicians and clinical faculty will receive the improved benefits of the UPTE-UC Healthcare (HX) Contract.

Yes, Senate Faculty are included in this effort. The main difference is that they will need to start their own bargaining unit and bargain for their own contract, rather than being added to UPTE’s HX contract. Once we get majority support and our union is certified, we will then vote to elect a bargaining team to negotiate senate faculty-specific issues.

We are continuing to connect with faculty across campuses, answer questions, build support, and identify colleagues who want to be involved. Faculty across the state have been hosting department meetings so their colleagues can find out more. If you are interested in setting up a department meeting, or have any further questions, please feel free to schedule a time to connect with an UPTE organizer working with faculty.

Sign our priority and union support card today. This allows us to understand your priorities, issues and concerns, and demonstrates our collective strength and interest in unionizing. The more faculty who join our effort, the stronger our collective voice will be.