University of California officials today (Nov. 17) announced a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers on a three-year labor contract for UC's more than 11,000 academic student employees. Employees in this group work part-time and include teaching assistants, graduate student instructors, readers and graders.

"We are very pleased to have reached what we believe is a fair agreement, and one that recognizes both the contributions our student employees make to UC's teaching mission and the budgetary challenges we face," said Peter Chester, UC's chief negotiator for the contract.

Once ratified by the union, the agreement will be effective from the date of ratification through Sept. 30, 2013. Full contract details will be available at http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/. The union ratification process is expected to take several weeks.

The tentative agreement includes wage increases of 2 percent for each of the three years covered by the contract, with the possibility of an additional increase in 2011-12 and 2012-13 dependent upon an increase in general funding from the state. Academic student employees also will continue to receive the same excellent health benefits as other UC students.

Negotiations for a new contract started at the end of June 2010. The current contract has been extended through Dec. 4, 2010, to accommodate the ratification process.

On average, total compensation for UC teaching assistants working half time on a nine-month calendar is approximately $28,500.

The vast majority (90 percent) of funding for academic student employees' salaries comes from general funds.