UC Resident Doctors Win Historic Statewide Contract after Year-Long Fight

July 17, 2026

Over 6,400 UC Resident and Fellow Physicians Secure Crucial Support for Fair Wages, Benefit Protections, and Workplace Safety with a Focus on Improved Patient Care

California — After a year of tough negotiations, coordinated collective actions, and increasing political support, the resident physicians and fellows at the University of California (UC) reached a tentative agreement on their first statewide contract with UC Health this past Wednesday. Represented by the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR/SEIU), the doctors say that the deal – which includes 18% salary increase, preservation of fertility benefits, improved access to radiation exposure equipment, immigrant protections for patients, and critical improvements to address emergency room capacity, among others – will directly impact their wellbeing and their ability to provide the best patient care for the 2.5 million Californians they serve across the state in the largest public healthcare system in the country.

“We are very happy with what we were able to negotiate for our futures, including the wage increases, better access to properly fitting lead, and enshrining our fertility benefits in this contract. However, we’re also really proud that we were able to win language for our patients, especially for the immigrant communities we serve so that they can receive care with less fear, and for all our patients who have had to contend with issues related to emergency room capacity. This is a great starting point and we look forward to ratifying this contract and to continuing to advocate for all of our patients at the UC’s from San Diego up to Sacramento,” said Dr. Diana Dayal, UCLA Emergency Medicine Resident.

This victory for UC residents and fellows comes after a 12 month long contract fight, marked by UC executive representatives’ attempts to claw back existing benefits and protections while also submitting to pressures from the Trump administration around DEI and ICE. However, over the course of negotiations, the UC residents and fellows participated in a series of escalating collective actions that culminated most publicly in June in a series of eighteen unity breaks at multiple UC sites in Sacramento, San Francisco, Fresno, Riverside, Los Angeles, Irvine, and San Diego, and neighboring hospitals where the UC residents and fellows work. In these actions, the UC physicians called for a fair contract that addressed rising cost of living, keeping their fertility benefits intact, and demanding that UC administration address emergency room capacity so that patients can receive timely care with diginity when they are at their most vulnerable.

Now that the UC resident bargaining team has reached a deal with UC executives, they look forward to providing the best healthcare possible while also continuing to transform residency for future generations of doctors, all with an eye on patient care. “Resident working conditions are patient care conditions,” said Dr. Gloria Tavera, UCSF Gastroenterology Fellow. She continued, “With a contract that covers all residents and fellows at the UC’s, we are more united than ever in ensuring that we keep the pressure on administration to ensure that the contract language is enforced – for our futures, for the futures of those coming up behind us, and for our patients’ futures.”

The CIR UC bargaining team will be presenting the tentative agreement (TA) to the full membership with a ratification vote to occur in the coming weeks across California. Once the TA is approved by the CIR UC resident and fellow doctors, then the contract will take effect.

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The Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) is the largest house staff union in the United States, a local of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) representing over 40,000 resident physicians and fellows nationwide. Our members are dedicated to improving residency training and education, advancing patient care, and expanding healthcare access for our communities.

Understanding S.P.I.T.

What are the benefits of forming a union?

When we come together as housestaff, we have a unified voice for safe working conditions and better patient outcomes. This pandemic has demonstrated that having workplace representation is urgent and necessary. Thousands of residents across the country have organized union chapters and have won historic improvements for housestaff and patients through collective bargaining agreements.

What’s legal? What’s not?

The laws vary from state to state as well as the type of employer you are paid by – private or public.Generally, however, most laws give employees the right to act together to try and improve their working conditions, with or without a union.It is illegal for employees to be fired, suspended, or otherwise penalized for taking part in protected group activity.

Generally, it is illegal for employers to S.P.I.T.:

(Document any activity that may look like this)

Surveil

Administration and department leadership may not conduct unlawful surveillance of employees’ union activity. Identifying, tracking and surveillance of employee discussions about the union or union meetings is illegal.

Examples:

Supervisors cannot inquire about what goes on at union meetings, ask which employees attend the meeting, or even give the impression of such surveillance.

Promise

Administration and department leadership must not directly or indirectly promise any benefits or reward employees for refusing to sign a union card, or for voting against your union. They may not promise a wage increase or give preferential treatment in exchange for refraining from union activity. Encouraging employees to withdraw or repudiate union authorization cards is also unlawful. They may not solicit grievances about working conditions while expressly or impliedly promising corrections if residents do not form a union.

Examples:

“I can get you a job here or give you a good recommendation letter if you don’t get involved.”

Reminder: There is nothing holding management accountable to any promises they make and they do not have to follow through.

Interrogate

Administration and department leadership should not interrogate, or ask, any employee whether or not he or she favors the union, has signed a union card, or has gone to a union meeting.

You can always say you’re not comfortable answering their questions. Remember to ask whether they’ve talked to others, whether they know if they’re allowed to ask, and if they have concerns about residents forming a union and what they are.

Questions they may ask:

Have you heard of a union being formed? Are you involved? Have you been asked to sign a card? Do any of your colleagues have interest in forming a union? Who have you heard union talk from? Do you think you’ll join?

Threaten

Administration and program leadership must not threaten employees with harm or reprisals (economic or otherwise) if they decide to get involved with the union or sign a union card.

Examples:

Administration may not threaten to take away residency spots or current department benefits if the residents decide to form or join a union.

What can we do to protect ourselves?

Despite being generally protected, it is always a good idea to be extra careful:

Remember to be discrete and never seek advice or reveal to management/administration that you are considering unionizing
Refrain from using hospital property – both physical (printers, computers, phones) – and intellectual (email, paging/messaging systems) – in communicating regarding union matters
Be mindful of where and when you discuss unionization with your colleagues – being overheard talking about unions in the hospital “on company time” can be considered “solicitation,” so exercise caution and discretion
As long as you are using personal means of communication such as personal phones, emails, and only talking to other interns, residents, or fellows, the hospital cannot discipline you

Reminder: Forming a union is 100% our legal right and our vote is anonymous.

UC Resident Doctors Win Historic Statewide Contract after Year-Long Fight

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