[Faculty] ASE-GSR Contract Agreement

Thu Mar 26 08:30:43 PDT 2026

*This letter is sent on behalf of UC System Provost and Executive Vice
President Katherine S. Newman. For your convenience, the text of the letter
is below.  The signed letter with enclosure is attached as a pdf.*

ACADEMIC COUNCIL CHAIR AHMET PALAZOGLU

EXECUTIVE VICE CHANCELLORS AND PROVOSTS

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to share that the United Auto Workers (UAW) bargaining units
have ratified their contracts, which are now in effect. These agreements
cover the unified Academic Student Employees (ASE – Teaching Assistants
(TA), Associate Instructors (AI), Readers, Tutors) and Graduate Student
Researchers (GSR), as well as the Student Services and Advising
Professionals and Research and Public Service Professionals staff units.
The ASE/GSR contract expires on December 31, 2029.

The outcomes described below would not have been possible without the
extraordinary work of colleagues who gave generously of their time and
advice throughout the process.   In particular, I’d like to thank the two
faculty members who served as advisors to the UC bargaining team, the
Academic Senate-appointed faculty advisory committee, and Academic Senate
leadership for their thoughtful recommendations, dedication, and time
throughout this difficult process. Gratitude is also due to campus
leadership and administration, the UC bargaining team, and the
cross-functional teams that all worked together to achieve this agreement.
Finally, a special word of thanks to Deputy Provost Amy Lee and Associate
Vice President Missy Matella and their teams who worked around the clock to
get us to this agreement.

While the systemwide and campus Academic Personnel and Labor Relations
offices will be providing guidance and training on the specifics, I wanted
you to have an overview of contract terms as they may impact grant funding
proposals, appointment decisions, and student admissions/funding. I realize
this is time sensitive for many of you and hope that having this summary
will prove useful.

*Management and Academic Rights*
Faculty on the bargaining team and members of the advisory committee
repeatedly made the point that academic matters must be the sole discretion
of the University and the distinction between student status and employment
status must be maintained, as is established under California law. We were
able to fulfill this priority in ways that will continue the venerable
traditions of the University of California to assess the quality of
academic performance and progress based on judgments by disciplinary
experts.

Accordingly, the contract now explicitly states that many aspects of
student status fall outside the scope of UAW representation. Specifically,
new language states that the following matters are exclusively
management/academic rights: admissions requirements for students; research
programs; conditions for the award of certificates and degrees; normative
time to degree; what is required for students to achieve satisfactory
progress toward their degrees; student academic progress; requirements,
evaluations, and decisions regarding qualifying and other exams;
advancement to candidacy, and; dissertation/thesis (or culminating project
required for degree).

*Wages*
With respect to wages, the attachment to this letter provides the monthly
salary scale rates for ASEs and GSRs throughout the life of the four-year
contract. As I relayed to you throughout negotiations, one of the UAW’s top
priorities in bargaining was to achieve a unified salary scale for TAs,
AIs, and GSRs. To address this goal, the parties deviated from the
traditional annual general range adjustment structure and instead
restructured the salary scales.

The bottom of the GSR salary scale will increase by 6% annually, but
the *average
annual increase* (without experience level movement or movement to a
unified scale in 2029) is as follows:

·       4.0% at salary point 2

·       3.9% at salary point 3

·       3.8% at salary point 4

·       3.6% at salary point 5

·       3.0% at salary point 6

In addition, the differentials between salary points have been reduced.
Under the 2022-26 GSR contract, the salary point differential was 7.75%.
The new contract restructures the scales to produce a differential that
ranges from 1.88% up to 7.64%.

Effective October 2029, the bottom salary point will be eliminated and
there will be movement toward a unified salary scale, which will result in
additional increases. We know these costs will be challenging for principal
investigators (PIs) to absorb and for the University budget to contend
with. It is important for colleagues to understand why it was necessary and
the role that a previous arbitrator’s ruling played in setting the
boundaries we were working within. In July 2025, an arbitrator ruled that
the University had violated the GSR contract by discontinuing pre-contract
salary point (formerly “step”) placement and progression practices,
following the 2022 contract ratification. He concluded that the “Past
Practices Not Covered by Agreement” article obligated the University to
continue to place GSRs on the same “step” that departmental practices had
followed prior to implementation of the new GSR contract at the beginning
of 2023. Moreover, the arbitrator determined that language in the Wages
article, which the University understood to grant discretion to change
those practices, permitted departments only to maintain, and not to
discontinue, previous salary point structures.

Given these findings, the arbitrator indicated that he would require each
location to reinstate former practices, retroactively adjust affected
appointments, and provide back pay. This decision would have been
*extremely* costly for the University to implement. Accordingly, campuses
were asked to refrain from making any adjustments based on the arbitration
loss, but rather to address the issue in the new contract.

Under the new contract, campuses and departments that moved GSRs to lower
salary points/steps in 2023 may retain their current departmental practice
and do not have to prospectively move GSRs to the pre-2023 salary
point/step. In exchange, the University agreed that current salary
point/step practices will remain unchanged through the life of the contract
(2026-2029) and that the University will move to a unified salary scale,
effective October 2029. The parties recognized the importance of committing
to those increases in the last year of the contract to maximize the
opportunity for advance planning and budgeting by individual research
units.

In order for the University to address the mandatory backpay remedy
(totaling $14.5 million), the UAW will provide the University with the
names of individuals and the amount owed to them and the University will
cover it in the form of a lump sum amount to those individuals. We
understand grants that were in place at the time are not able to provide
funds to pay for this requirement. Hence, we will work closely with campus
Academic Personnel offices to facilitate payment of the lump sums.

I also attach the new monthly salary scale rates for TAs and AIs, as well
as the new hourly rates for Readers and Tutors. Please note that the new
contract requires that all new TA or AI appointments of individuals in PhD
or MFA programs must add up to 50% FTE, with certain exceptions. Keep in
mind that the University is not obligated by the contract to appoint
graduate students as TAs or AIs, but when it does, the appointment (or
combination of appointments) should be at 50% FTE, with limited exceptions.
*Systemwide guidance and training on those exceptions will be provided
soon.  *

*Other Increases/Benefits*

I want you to be aware of some other changes in benefits that are
guaranteed in the contract:

*Childcare*

   - *Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs)* are eligible to receive up to
      $1,900 per fiscal quarter (up from $1,400) for qualifying childcare
      expenses incurred
      - *Academic Student Employees (ASEs)* are eligible to receive up to
      $1,900 per quarter or $2,850 per semester (up from $1,400/quarter and
      $2,100/semester) for qualifying childcare expenses incurred
      - *Eligible Summer Session ASEs* may receive up to $1,900 total (up
      from $1,375) for childcare expenses incurred during their summer session
      appointment

*Health Benefits*

*Effective immediately:*

   - The eligibility threshold for remission/reimbursement of child
      dependent health premiums has been revised, resulting in a
higher number of
      employees who will qualify for remission/reimbursement of child dependent
      health premiums

*Graduate Student Researcher Personal Time Off (PTO)*

*Beginning Fall Term 2026:*

   - GSRs who have unused PTO shall rollover their PTO bank into a
      reappointment under the following circumstances:
         - The GSR is reappointed under the same PI/supervisor
         - The GSR does not have a break in service as a GSR longer than
         thirty (30) days
      - If there is a break in service of 30 days or less, the GSR must
      submit a written request to rollover their previously unused PTO within
      thirty (30) days from the start of their new appointment
      - The total PTO days available for a GSR may never exceed eighteen
      (18) days

*Immigration Leave*

*Effective immediately:*

   - Employees may take up to three (3) weeks of unpaid leave (used in
      one-week increments/blocks) to travel outside the United States
of America
      to apply for a F-1 or J-1 visa or to seek other forms of immigration
      relief, with thirty (30) days’ notice to their supervisor and
the need for
      travel for a qualifying reason is verified by the International Students
      and Scholars Office (or equivalent)
      - Employees may use available short-term leave, personal time off
      (GSRs only), or up to one week of long-term leave to receive pay
during an
      Immigration Leave
      - Immigration Leave is limited to three (3) weeks whether paid or
      unpaid in any rolling twelve (12) month period
      - When feasible, employees are expected to schedule
      immigration-related appointments between academic terms or obtain
      supervisor pre-approval

*Transition Position Program*

*Effective immediately:*

   - The Transition Position Pilot Program created in the previous
      agreement is now a permanent article in the agreement, and will be
      maintained at all locations effective immediately, with the updates below:
      - *UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Davis:* Up to 10
      graduate student employees (increased from 6) per year per
location, with a
      funding cap of $100,000 (up from $70,000) annually per location
      - *UC Riverside, UC Merced, UC San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara, UC
      Santa Cruz, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL):* Up to 10
      (increased from 6) graduate student employees per year per
location, with a
      funding cap of $50,000 (up from $35,000) annually per location

The financial and benefit provisions outlined above are enormously
important to our union partners, and we are pleased to have reached
agreement on them. I know that the new contractual terms do not solve the
issue of insufficient grant funding or campus budgets to support the
increase in costs. These increases, however, are nowhere near the “jump”
that we experienced in the last contract. Moreover, the salary scale
restructuring will do a great deal to soften the impact of the arbitration
loss in GSR step/salary point placement. Please be assured that we will be
working with you closely on implementation and next steps based on this
agreement.

Please share this message with all faculty to convey this broad overview of
the contractual terms and to express my gratitude for all they do to
advance the mission of the University. Systemwide training and guidance
will be forthcoming regarding the specific provisions. In the meantime, if
there are any questions, please contact your campus Academic Personnel and
Labor Relations offices.

Best wishes,

Katherine S. Newman

UC System Provost and

Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Sociology &
       Public Policy

Attachment: Monthly and Hourly Salary Rates for ASEs/GSRs

cc:       President Milliken

            Chancellors

            Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Brostrom

            Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Nava

            Executive Vice President Rubin

    Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer Bustamante

    Senior Vice President Turner

    Laboratory Director Witherell

             Academic Council Vice Chair Scott

    Vice President Brown

    Vice President/Vice Provost Gullatt

    Vice President Humiston

    Vice President and Chief of Staff Kao

    Vice President Henderson

    Vice President Maldonado

    Vice Provost Varsanyi

    Vice Provosts/Vice Chancellors for Academic Personnel

    Vice Chancellors for Research

    Deputy Provost Lee

    Associate Vice Provost Jennings

    Associate Vice President Matella

    Associate Vice President McRae

    Assistant Vice Provosts/Vice Chancellors for Academic Personnel

    Chief Human Resource Officers

    Graduate Deans

    Executive Director Anders

                   Executive Director Lin

    Executive Director Menezes

    Deputy General Counsel Woodall

    Chief of Staff Beechem

    Labor Relations Directors

    Director Weston-Dawkes
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