October 3, 2025

UC affirms commitment to nurses with 27% pay raise amid financial pressures

(SACRAMENTO)

Demonstrating its commitment to health care workers and recognizing the tremendous value of nurses, the University of California on Oct. 1 offered the California Nurses Association union more than two dozen contract proposals, including wage increases of 27% over the proposed five-year contract.

Registered nurses (RNs) in Northern California already make some of the highest hourly and annual salaries for registered nurses within the state, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The UC’s proposal, if accepted by the union, would include a 7% wage increase in the first year of the contract, achieved through a combination of base building increases, step increases and a one-time cash payment. For the remainder of the five-year contract, the roughly 24,000 CNA-represented UC nurses would receive up to 5% each year through a combination of base building increases, step and one-time money annually.

Negotiations with the CNA began in August, and the contract expires Oct. 31. The next bargaining session is scheduled for Oct. 15.

Competitive compensation offered

The UC wage proposal of $1.1 billion comes at a time when its academic health centers are navigating significant financial strain, with rising labor costs, supply price inflation, and billions in uncompensated care for Medi-Cal and Medicare patients, as well as $30 billion in long-term obligations, seismic retrofit mandates, and ongoing cost pressures.

For instance, labor costs at the academic health centers have risen 22% compared to last year, surpassing the growth in patient care revenue. This strain is exacerbated by the rising demand for complex care among publicly insured patients, where reimbursement rates often fail to cover the true cost of services.

At the same time, UC continues to face an existential federal funding crisis that has already cut key grants and threatened billions in support for research, programs and student aid, putting campuses, patients and communities at risk. Against this backdrop, UC’s continued commitment to offering competitive compensation underscores both the seriousness of bargaining in good faith and the institution’s resolve to support its health care workforce even in the face of unprecedented financial and political pressures.

Northern California nurses are among the highest-paid in the nation, with San Francisco Bay Area markets making up the Top 4 highest-paid, and the Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom market rounding out the Top 5 highest-paid metropolitan areas for registered nurse salaries. All of the top 15 highest-paid markets for nurses are in California.

Missy Matella, Associate Vice President for Systemwide Employee and Labor Relations, said in the UC news release announcing the proposal. “UC nurses are the backbone of our health system, and this proposal recognizes their invaluable contributions.”

The Oct. 1 wage proposal was just one of the options that UC offered CNA at their fourth bargaining session for a successor contract. UC also presented proposals addressing expanded nurse representation, clearer job postings, grievance processes and health benefit subsidies to lower employee costs. The breadth of fair and practical proposals, particularly offered this early in bargaining, reiterates UC’s commitment to good faith bargaining and supporting both patient care and nurses’ workplace needs.

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