WHY UNIONIZE WITH UPTE?
THE UPTE DIFFERENCE: PENSION
Unionizing with UPTE will secure stronger pension benefits that will help us retain top physicians and safeguard our futures.
The table below compares the UPTE-negotiated UC Retirement Pension Modified 2013 Tier with the UC Retirement Pension 2016 Tier (PEPRA) for non-union.
Example: Physician with 20 Years of UC Service, $400,000 average salary (3 highest earning years), retiring or going to work elsewhere at age 60 in the year 2036.
~ $3,800,00
Total pension received age 60 to 79*
*Average age of death in U.S.
~ $1,839,960
UCRP 2016 Tier (PEPRA)
Non-union employees
UCRP Modified 2013 Tier
UPTE-represented employees
No — maximum age factor reached at age 65 (1.8% factor if retiring at age 60)
Max age factor reached?
Yes — 2.5% reached at age 60
~ $269,000 (estimated 2036 PEPRA cap assuming 2.5% annual inflation adjustment)
Pension-able salary used
$400,000 (No PEPRA cap on earnings)
~ $96,840 per year
Approx. annual pension amount
~ $200,000 per year
TITLE-SPECIFIC WINS: PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS
Physician assistants (PA) across UC have historically been paid less than nurse practitioners (NP), despite performing similar work.
During UPTE’s most recent healthcare professionals (HX) contract negotiations, UPTE members secured pay parity between PAs and NPs across the UC Health system and opened the door for PAs to negotiate reasonable title and step placement at the campus level. See Appendix XX here.
At UC San Diego Health, with the support of their physician colleagues, PAs negotiated an updated career ladder that:
Placed 35% of the PA workforce at PA 3, the highest step in the new career ladder
Led to more than 20% in overall wage increases for some
Secured retroactive pay back to November 2025
PAs at other UC Health campuses will continue enforcing their right to negotiate title-specific pay parity that thousands of UC healthcare professionals stood together to secure.