Three United Auto Workers units ratified contracts with the UC on Friday, averting a strike after months of bargaining. 

The three units – UAW Local 4811’s academic student employees unit, Research and Public Service Professionals-UAW and Student Services and Advising Professionals-UAW – represent more than 40,000 UC academic and research employees, including teaching assistants. The ratification marks SSAP-UAW and RPSP-UAW’s first contracts with the University, while UAW Local 4811’s previous contract expired Feb. 28.

About 89% of academic student employees across the UC – and 85% at UCLA – voted to ratify the contract, as well as 98% of RPSPs and 99% of SSAPs, according to an email sent to UAW Local 4811 members.

The units reached tentative agreements with the University on March 13 – just one day after their “last chance” demonstrations, which they held across UC campuses. 

[Related: UC UAW units may strike ‘as soon as next week’ if University doesn’t meet demands]

The UAW units had threatened an unfair labor practice strike against the University, with about 93% of participating union members voting Feb. 13 to authorize a potential future strike. 

[Related: UC reaches tentative agreements with 3 United Auto Workers units]

The contracts include pay raises for each of the three units, as well as several other labor protections. SSAP-UAW and UAW Local 4811 began negotiations with the UC in July, and RPSP-UAW’s negotiations with the UC began in October.

“Having a union contract in place means that UC is now a place where we have agency to build sustainable careers,” said Brianna McGuire, the co-chair of UC Davis’ RPSP-UAW bargaining team. “It’s an incredible feeling to know that when 40,000 workers have each other’s backs, we can have a say in our working conditions and ensure that our contributions are valued. Our contracts will make UC stronger as we serve the university’s students, community, and research mission.”

SSAP-UAW and RPSP-UAW will receive a minimum 27.8% raise over four years through a step wage system. The contract also grants the units a ratification bonus, caps on increases to health insurance premiums, greater job security, and protections for hybrid and remote work arrangements. 

UAW Local 4811’s contract brings raises of up to 45% for teaching assistants and graduate student researchers, as well as raises of up to 62% for hourly workers over the contract’s duration. 

The contract will also eliminate pay disparities between teaching assistants across all UC campuses by 2029. Over the course of the contract, the employees will receive a 46% increase in child care reimbursements. 

The contract requires the University to provide clear job descriptions, so that workers are better equipped to seek recourse if their employers ask them to do work that is not part of their title.

The contract also includes a $400,000 legal fund for international workers, guaranteed rehiring rights if an international worker loses and regains their visa, as well as three weeks of paid visa leave.

These protections for international workers come about one year after the Trump administration revoked the visas of at least 19 students and recent alumni, and of more than 1,800 students and recent graduates nationwide, according to Inside Higher Ed. The federal government announced in late April that it planned to restore the student visas it revoked, while United States Immigrations and Customs Enforcement created a “framework for status record termination.”

[Related: Trump administration announces restoration of international students’ visas]

In their unfair labor practice charges, the three units alleged the University failed to provide responses to information requests that were relevant to negotiations. RPSP-UAW and SSAP-UAW also alleged in their ULP charges that the UC engaged in bad-faith bargaining. 

UAW Local 4811 also filed ULP charges related to several UC campuses capping teaching assistant appointments and the arrests of two union members on UCLA’s campus in November.

[Related: UCPD releases arrested graduate students after finding they did not commit a crime]

The UC’s academic and research employees went on a nearly six-week strike in 2022 – the largest strike in United States higher education history. UAW Local 4811 went on strike again in spring 2024 in response to the UC’s use of force against union members who were a part of pro-Palestine protests, some of whom were arrested.

In the months ahead, we look forward to working with UC to protect higher education, research funding and science itself from the onslaught of the Trump administration,” said Rafael Jaime, UAW Local 4811’s president.