A union representing healthcare and service workers at the University of California reached a tentative agreement with the school just hours before more than 40,000 members were set to walk off the job.
AFSCME Local 3299 said Thursday that the parties have agreed to a deal securing wage increases and healthcare premium caps. Under the agreement, the minimum wage will increase from $25 per hour in 2025 to $30.10 per hour in 2029.
The union represents roughly 30,000 healthcare workers and several thousand custodians, groundskeepers, and food service employees across the University of California system.
“For nearly three years, the frontline workers that we represent have stood shoulder to shoulder, demanding the university take meaningful action to address the affordability crisis pricing them out of the communities where they work, and forcing impossible choices on their families,” AFSCME Local 3299 President Michael Avant said in a statement.
“Tonight we have reached a tentative agreement with the University that makes historic progress and delivers long-overdue security to the frontline service and patient care professionals who make UC run,” he said.
AFSCME and the university have been engaged in negotiations since the last collective bargaining agreement expired in 2024.
The deal comes as the union was preparing for an open-ended unfair labor practice strike starting May 14. AFSCME alleged that the school had illegally implemented a healthcare plan without bargaining, and refused to negotiate over housing benefits.