On Thursday afternoon, September 17, 2026, ComMaS reached a tentative agreement (TA) on a historic first contract with UC management. The agreement would:
- Increase our pay by at least 27.8% over the 4 years of the contract
- Create an enforceable process to request reclassification
- Address career stagnation and unreasonable workloads
- Cap health insurance premium increases
- Provide enforceable protections for existing and new remote and hybrid work agreements
- Prepare for new technology, such as AI, and ensure ComMaS have a say in its implementation
- Protect ComMaS work by stopping unfair subcontracting practices that layoff ComMaS
- Increase job security
And so much more!
These are major wins on the concerns ComMaS shared in surveys, town halls, and one-on-one conversations. You can learn about the details in the full text of the agreement and this before-and-after comparison.
On Tuesday, September 22, at 9AM, you will receive a ballot via email to ratify our historic first union contract with the subject line “Your Ballot for the ComMaS-UAW Contract Ratification Vote”. The ComMaS bargaining team is proud to endorse a yes vote unanimously.
Building on the powerful organizing of our colleagues in the Research and Public Service Professionals (RPSPs) and Student Services and Advising Professionals (SSAPs) units, we are joining them in a contract with historic protections for UC staff. On top of that, we negotiated subcontracting protections to keep ComMaS work in our unit, ensuring that we won’t be laid off and replaced by outside contractors.
These contract wins aren’t just powerful. They’re enforceable. We have a strong grievance process that doesn’t let UC be the final decision-maker on our rights. We have the tools to organize and support each other to make sure every ComMaS member gets the most out of these new protections.
The contract doesn’t have every single thing we want. Bargaining involves compromise. The core articles of our contract resulted from 12,000 RPSPs and SSAPs authorizing a strike and organizing a last-chance picket that finally brought UC back to the table. ComMaS stepped up to keep that momentum going and secure these major wins for us too. From now on, we will join with these other professional staff units to have even more leverage, more energy, and more powerful organizing of 15,000 workers. And that number is growing by the day as more staff unionize with UAW.
During this ratification drive, we also have the opportunity to become dues-paying members of UAW. A strong showing of membership sign-ups right out of the gate will show UC we are committed and vigilant. We will enforce our contract, and ComMaS will not be quiet when our rights are violated. Our dues help fund our organizing and bring even more staff into this fight with us.
We strongly recommend that you ratify this contract and become a dues-paying member to build a better UC and a worker-led movement that makes our lives better.
In solidarity,
ComMaS-UAW Bargaining Team Members:
Adra Bowman, UC Santa Cruz
Rebecca Griffin, UC San Francisco
Lizzie Hall, UC San Diego
Farah Hamade, UC San Francisco
Todd Lee, UC San Francisco
Ian Miller, UC Berkeley
Holly Ober, UC Los Angeles