About 48,000 unionized academic workers across UC’s 10 campuses — who conduct most of their teaching and research in the state’s top higher education system — went on strike Monday morning to demand higher pay and benefits.
Teaching assistants, postdoctoral scholars, graduate researchers, tutors and fellows across the UC system took to the picket line in the nation’s largest strike of the year, leading to class cancellations, lab closures and other academic disruptions in the weeks leading up to final exams. Union leaders called the strike, which also included Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory workers, the largest in history at any academic institution.
The mass shutdown appeared likely to continue Tuesday.
“We’ll be here as long as we need to be,” said Rafael Jaime, president of United Auto Workers Local 2865, which represents 19,000 of the 48,000 workers. “Workers are still energized and optimistic that we can win.”
After negotiations with the UAW continued over the weekend, UC officials called for the introduction of a third-party mediator.
“At this time, we believe the best path to reach an agreement is with the assistance of a third-party mediator,” UC spokesman Ryan King said in a statement Monday afternoon. “We continue to encourage union partnerships in seeking mediation.”
One of the four units on strike – the latest guild representing 17,000 postgraduate researchers – had been bargaining with university officials on Monday afternoon, but it was too early to tell whether a deal was likely to be reached, Jaime said. The other three units, which represent more than 30,000 workers, have not made any new progress, he said, noting that the two sides “remain far apart on many issues that make UC a more equitable university.”
Workers are demanding big pay increases, subsidized childcare, enhanced health care for families, extended family leave, public transport passes and lower tuition for international scholars.
While the two sides recently agreed to strengthen protections against workplace bullying and abuse, UC’s proposal on wages still falls far short of what union leaders say is a $54,000 base salary that union leaders say is fair for graduate workers — and would be twice the average worker’s salary. Times more pays about $24,000 a year.
In a UC statement, King said the university’s current proposal “will set the standard for graduate academic employee support” at public research universities, noting that graduate students work part-time while earning their degrees and that their salaries “are just one of many ways “They were supported as students. “
Under the university’s proposal, graduate salaries would be “ranked among the best” at top public research universities and on par with private institutions such as Harvard, MIT and USC, King said.
“The University of California believes its offer is generous, responsive to the union’s priorities, and recognizes the many valuable contributions of these employees,” university officials wrote in an earlier statement about the negotiations, which will begin in 2021. It’s been going on since spring.
UC offered teaching assistants and mentors a 7 percent first-year raise and 3 percent each year thereafter, but workers said that wasn’t enough.
“We’re overworked, underpaid, and we’re fed up,” said Jamie Mondello, a 27-year-old psychology graduate student at UCLA, UAW Local 2865 and a member of the Student Research Consortium. A living wage. We, as a collective, just demand to be treated with dignity. We do keep UC going.”
Mondello said she makes about $37,000 a year as a researcher and plans to add a teaching assistantship next quarter to help boost income. She joined hundreds of other academic workers on the picket line at UCLA on Monday morning, many holding signs that read “UAW Strike.” Unfair Labor Practices. “
“Forty-eight thousand strong,” they chanted. “We could fight all day long.”
Lavanya Nott, 30, a third-year graduate student in the geography department and a student researcher, said her job earns $24,000 a year, and her second job as an on-campus grader makes about $24,000 a year. For $2,000, teaching assistants do not have their first language not English.
“Living in Los Angeles or most cities in California is next to impossible,” she said. “Many of us have second or third jobs.”
Knott calls her income a “poverty-level wage” and says 92 percent of graduate students are rent-deposited, meaning they spend 30 percent or more of their income on rent.
She and her partner live in a one-bedroom apartment provided by UC Housing, paying $1,500 a month. Although she has no children, she said she knows parents are struggling because the UC child care subsidy is not enough to cover the cost of child care on UC campuses.
“We’ve been thinking about how little money we have, how tight we are financially, and I think it will give us some peace of mind and freedom to focus on our work and have some dignity,” Knott said. “We just want to out of poverty.”
Strikers say international students must pay non-residential tuition fees, putting them on a “treadmill” that prevents them from completing their degree in five years because the university will not pay fees beyond that time.
“Postdocs, researchers, graduate teaching assistants basically run the university in multiple ways,” Knott said. “We teach most of our courses. We grade more papers than any faculty member. We conduct cutting-edge research and bring a lot of money into the UC system. Our demand is only 3% of UC’s annual budget. In terms of UC’s affordability In other words, it’s a very trivial question.”
It was unclear how many classes, labs or scheduled academic activities were disrupted Monday, but UCLA and Statewide campuses Reports of cancellations of many classes.
UC Irvine spokesman Tom Vasich said campus leadership is “committed to continuity of teaching and research,” including alternative teaching formats such as hybrid courses.
He did not say how many classes had been canceled but said student support resources remained open.
Most campuses did not directly answer questions about how many classes were disrupted by the strike.
Ebony Morris, 21, a fourth-year art undergraduate, said a discussion group meeting in one of her classes was canceled before the strike ended.
“The teaching assistants delivered a class,” she said. “It’s a smaller way to get everything you’re supposed to get in the classroom.”
Grading of assignments and tests is also likely to be affected by the strike, Morris said.
“I think UCLA should pay the wages of the people who work here,” she said. “If they need to strike, they need to strike. I think it’s a human right to be able to pay for your life.”
Breanna Reyes, 20, and Vanessa Salgado, 20, are third-year undergraduates majoring in Spanish.
Reyes said one of her courses was canceled indefinitely and another was moved online until the strike ended. Salgado said some of her classes and discussion groups were canceled.
“Obviously there will be disruption to grading and classes, but I think the point is to create disruption and make staff aware of what’s going on, so I don’t mind that,” Salgado said.
“We’re really here because we want to make academia a better place. Nobody wants to strike, we’re forced into this situation just to get fair working conditions and a fair contract.”
—Jamie Mondello, graduate student in psychology, UCLA
Some students are considering joining the strike in a show of solidarity, Reyes said.
“In large lectures, we don’t get individual attention and we don’t ask as many questions,” Reyes said. “In our discussion groups, we can express ourselves more, ask questions about homework, get feedback, and that improves our overall grades, so I think missing out on that impacted our Q1 experience.”
Mondello, a graduate student in psychology at UCLA, said she appreciates that many undergraduates understand that the strike is not meant to punish them and faculty, but is necessary for academic workers.
“We’re really here because we want to make academia better,” Mondello said. “No one wants to strike, we’ve been forced into this situation just to get fair working conditions and a fair contract.”
That’s especially concerning, she said, because union leaders have repeatedly accused the university of using illegal negotiation tactics, such as table avoidance and intimidation tactics, and have filed 25 unfair labor practice claims with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board. In six cases, the board filed complaints, meaning the board found sufficient evidence that there may have been unfair practices.
King did not specifically respond to questions about the allegations, but said UC officials continued to negotiate in “good faith.” The university has repeatedly denied any illegality and said differences should be resolved at the negotiating table, not on the picket line.
On UC Irvine’s main plaza, hundreds of striking academic workers chanted “union power” at noon.
Kien Le, 27, a teaching assistant in the English department, said he joined the main picket team for better pay and job security. He said he made $20,000 and lived in on-campus housing owned by the university.
“The university has been engaging in a number of illegal practices, such as negotiating with certain departments,” he said. “We just want them to negotiate with us in good faith.”
Le said he recently filed a grievance, backed by unions, after the university rescinded a job offer last summer, a difficult time for workers like him who work nine months out of the school year. It took Le more than a month to get back to work.
“Universities are our employers and our landlords,” he said. “I would have been in arrears with my rent.”
Jessie Altieri, 27, has been through similar rent struggles at an independent picket on the Irvine campus. Student Fellows are employed year-round but earn $35,000 per year. She worked 40-hour weeks in cancer and biology research, but still struggled to make ends meet, even in university-owned housing.
“It’s subsidized, but not enough,” Altieri said. Other student researchers do similar work, but are sometimes paid $10,000 a year less, she said.
“A new contract will fix that,” Altieri added. “Everyone will get paid the same.”
A group of 33 state lawmakers sent a letter in support of graduate workers, urging UC President Michael Drake to bargain in good faith.
“UC is one of the top public university systems and research institutions in the world, in large part because of its ability to attract the most talented scholars from diverse backgrounds,” the letter reads. “But the UC system cannot live up to its mission and reputation if its own employees don’t feel respected.”
The university system narrowly avoided a planned strike by some 6,500 lecturers in November after striking a last-minute deal that improved their job security and included pay increases.
Times staff writers Teresa Watanabe and Gregory Yee contributed to this report.