A union representing more than 6,400 UC resident physicians and fellows reached a tentative agreement with the University on Wednesday.

The Committee of Interns and Residents, a local affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, began contract negotiations with the University in August, according to a Thursday UC Office of the President press release. CIR-SEIU will hold a ratification vote in the coming weeks, and the contract will go into effect if it is ratified, according to a Friday press release from the union.

“We appreciate the work of both bargaining teams to reach this tentative agreement,” said Missy Matella, the UC’s associate vice president for systemwide employee and labor relations, in the press release. “It supports UC’s continued commitment to these valuable employees and to medical education, clinical training and high-quality patient care.”

The contract applies to all residents and fellows across the UC and includes an 18% salary increase, provisions to ensure safety for immigrant patients and efforts to address emergency room capacity issues, according to the union’s press release.

UCOP did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the tentative agreement.

CIR-SEIU members protested with workers from the California Nurses Association and University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America 9119 – which represents UC healthcare, research and technical employees – in May, calling on the UC to address alleged overcrowding at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center’s emergency department.

[Related: Protesting doctors, nurses allege dangerous overcrowding at UCLA hospital]

The contract will allow immigrant patients to receive healthcare with less fear, said Dr. Diana Dayal, a member of the union’s bargaining team and a UCLA emergency medicine resident, in an emailed statement.

“This is a great starting point and we look forward to ratifying this contract and to continuing to advocate for all of our patients at the UC’s from San Diego up to Sacramento,” she said in the statement.

The union will ensure the UC upholds the contract if it is ratified, said Dr. Gloria Tavera, a fellow at UC San Francisco, in the union’s press release.

“Resident working conditions are patient care conditions,” she said. “We are more united than ever in ensuring that we keep the pressure on administration to ensure that the contract language is enforced – for our futures, for the futures of those coming up behind us, and for our patients’ futures.”