11-14-2022 11:53am

Thousands of University of California academic Staff, and student employees go on strike

Anita Johnson-Brown Editor

LOS ANGELES-Today approximately 48,000 union employees, researchers, and student workers at the ten University of California campuses, went on strike to guarantee improved wages and labor conditions.
The United Auto Workers union represents some of the classes of UC employees, such as graduate pupil researchers, student employees, tutors, and teaching aids.

Salaries remain an issue. Several employees including graduate students indicated that half their monthly salary pays the rent.

Ryan King, a spokesman for the UC President's Office, told City News Service on Sunday, November 13, that UC administrators are in agreement negotiations with the United Auto Workers concerning four different educational bargaining units: postdoctoral students, academic researchers, academic student workers (teaching aides/readers/tutors), and graduate pupil researchers,

According to UAW officials, bargaining teams had a meeting on Saturday evening, and moved to strike Monday "unless UC ceases its unlawful conduct to reach fair contracts before then.''

"Our primary demand is to get living wages, to have living situations that match the cost of living, that match the vital work that we do to not only sustain the university but make the University of California the prestigious institution that it is," said graduate student researcher Desmond Fonseca.

The University of California stated the negotiations that read in part:

"The University of California continues to negotiate in good faith as we do everything possible to mitigate the impacts of any strike actions on our student learning. The University has conducted over 50 bargaining sessions to understand the complex and unique needs of each of the four bargaining units represented by UAW and worked in good faith to offer a fair, multiyear agreement that recognizes the valuable contributions of our Postdoctoral Scholars, Academic Researchers, Academic Student Employees (teaching assistants/readers/tutors), and Graduate Student Researchers."
A work hiatus could interfere with classroom studies, and educators, keeping professors without assistant staff members to grade lessons, in addition to possibly stopping a substantial amount of the research and analysis that takes place on campus at UC.

More information can be viewed on the university's website.

Written by Anita Johnson-Brown