Welcome to UPTE! Here’s how your union works and benefits you

Written By Zac Goldstein

Excellent news! Over the holiday break, the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) ruled that Research & Development Engineers 1-3 should be represented by UPTE's Technical (TX) bargaining unit, which already represents Lab Mechanicians, Development Technicians, and Systems Administrators, among many other titles throughout the University of California.

Click here to sign a membership form and let UC know that you'll be standing with 20,000 other UPTE technical, healthcare, and research professionals as we fight for a contract that protects our families, research, patients, and students.

What this means:

  • You are entitled to UPTE's negotiated lower healthcare premiums, saving up to $224 per month depending on your pay band and plan. If UPTE's negotiated premiums are lower, you should begin paying reduced premiums within 90 days.

  • If you were hired after July 1, 2013, you will begin accruing retirement benefits in the "2013 Modified" tier of the UCRP pension plan, meaning that you can retire five years earlier: as early as age 50 and at age 60 with full benefit multipliers (compared to 55 and 65 in the 2013 and 2016 tiers). If you were hired after July 1, 2016 and opted into the "Savings Choice" plan, you will keep any contributions to that plan and continue to voluntarily contribute. Changes to accruals and contributions (all UPTE-represented staff pay 9% to UCRP) for those hired after July 1, 2013 should begin within 90 days. There are no changes to retirement benefits or contributions for those hired (or rehired following a break in service of more than 120 days) before July 1, 2013.

  • Changes to wages, working conditions, and benefits not specified in your UPTE contract can be bargained by you and your co-workers, as part of your union. Always contact your union if you have concerns or questions about changes at work.

What this does NOT mean:

  • Union representation does NOT mean that management is unable to give you a raise or make other changes you want, because of the union contract. In fact, management simply needs to provide notice to the union to provide you a raise or make positive changes, providing you and your coworkers the opportunity to negotiate, if needed.

  • You will have a more adversarial relationship with management or other co-workers. In fact, union representation means that management has to treat you and your co-workers equally and makes life easier for managers that want to treat their employees fairly. The union is where we all come together to make our workplaces better – whether that means working with cooperative managers or working to advocate for changes when needed.

  • Your raises will be eaten up by union dues. In fact, UPTE dues are only 1.3% of salary and you won't pay any dues until you receive a raise from UPTE's new contract. Over our previous 5 year contract, UPTE members received a minimum of 29% in raises and steps. Many UPTE members won even more by coming together to advocate for market equity adjustments. Check out UPTE's news page to see stories about our victories.

Click here to sign a membership form and let UC know that you'll be standing with 20,000 other UPTE technical, healthcare, and research professionals as we fight for a contract that protects our families, research, patients, and students.

Contact the UPTE Organizer for your campus in order to get more information. We will be reaching out to set up informational and bargaining update meetings with RDEs in each department, so please let your UPTE organizer know if you can help facilitate those meetings.

In solidarity,

Dan Russell
UPTE President
UPTE Bargaining Team Chief Negotiator
UC Berkeley Business Technical Support Analyst 3

Zac Goldstein

UPTE Communications Specialist

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