The University of California and a union representing over 40,000 of its workers reached a tentative agreement just hours before workers were set to go on strike that would have likely disrupted patient services across the university’s 10 campuses.

Instead of launching the first open-ended strike in the UC health system, leaders of AFSCME Local 3299 said their members will be at work on Thursday supporting patients and students.

The last-minute deal includes minimum-wage increases over several years, beginning at $25 per hour and reaching over $30 per hour by April 2029. Between 2026 and 2029, workers would receive a total annual wage increase of 19% in addition to step increases of 2% each year. The new agreement established caps for healthcare plans, which the union said will result in rates to decrease next year.

AFSCME Local 3299 President Michael Avant said that wage increases, healthcare rate decreases and workplace safety protections secured in the agreement are a result of frontline workers “demanding the university take meaningful action to address the affordability crisis pricing them out of the communities where they work.”

Distributed by Tribune News Service