RPSP and SSAPs kicked off 2026 with more bargaining for our first union contract. Unfortunately, management has continued to bargain in bad faith. The University has repeatedly failed to meet its legal obligations, limiting progress towards agreement on our contract. In response, we have filed Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges.
Our latest ULP charges cites three ways UC has failed to meet their obligations:
- Despite having a legal obligation to provide us with information about our wages and working conditions, they continue to ignore Requests for Information we made as far back as May 2025. Withholding this information prevents meaningful bargaining. How can we come to an agreement on our wages if we don’t even know how much the average SSAP or RPSP currently earns?
- Instead of bargaining with us to create a contract that addresses our unique needs as RPSPs or SSAPs, UC continues to unlawfully tell us we need to accept agreements they’ve made with other UC staff unions. Obviously our union was not involved in the negotiation of those terms, and to insist we accept them constitutes bad faith bargaining. We formed our union in order to negotiate a contract that is responsive to our unit’s current needs and priorities.
- The university has refused to meet its legal burden to negotiate with us over policy changes with substantial impacts on staff in our units.
Management’s refusal to negotiate in good faith requires us to hold UC accountable. Filing the ULP is an important legal step to force UC to meet its responsibilities, but it’s going to take each of us stepping up and defending our rights to ensure we end up with a strong contract. You can move our bargaining process forward by:
- Signing up for a short “CAT” (Contract Action Team) training to learn how to stay up-to-date, talk to your coworkers, and participate in the bargaining process
- Taking the Retirement and Healthcare Benefits Survey to share your priorities and help inform decision-making in our bargaining over benefits
