The student worker strike continues to drag on. As we have noted, there is a point at which the parties come face to face with the costs: missing paychecks, missing grades, missing sessions with TAs, missing labs, missing research on funded grants, etc. And - as we have also noted - there are potential solutions at that point, particularly some form of arbitration that can bring the dispute to a close.*
Let's first note that the Regents, although they heard directly about the strike during the public comment periods of their last meetings, took no particular action. Indeed, we also noted that, aside from a comment that negotiations were underway, there was only one very brief comment on the strike at the Regents by President Drake - essentially putting the cost of the pay demands at $2 billion - that seemed to quash any further discussion. You can see that brief episode at the link below:
Or direct to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6J3P85xhe0.
To help you understand the clip, here is a summary: On Nov. 16, 2022 at a meeting of the Finance and Capital Strategies Committee.** UC President Drake said the demands of the UAW would cost $2 billion. He said it indirectly, referring first to requests by nonunion staff which would cost $200 million. Drake then referred to "other" demands, later qualified as those of the UAW, and said they would cost ten times as much, i.e., $2 billion. It was then clarified that not all of the $2 billion would come from "core" funds, i.e., educational funds supplied by the state. Some would come from research grants from outside sources, e.g., federal research funding. In the clip, first we see Regent Pérez saying it would be important for those making requests to understand the costs of their demands. Then we see Drake's comment. Nathan Brostrom, chief financial officer for UC, makes the point about core vs. non-core funds. Regent Cohen then says we'll allow the amount of the costs to sink in.
It's worth noting that the political ex officio Regents - the governor, lieutenant governor (who is technically the presiding officer of the state senate), the speaker of the state assembly, and the state superintendent of public instruction - have chosen not to intervene. In particular, the governor - who got the Regents all in a tizzy over the summer about where UCLA should play football - was notably absent from any discussion at the Regents about how UC is to function when the two sides to the dispute are so far apart on money.
It might be noted that yesterday, President Biden - while saying it would be best if the parties to a threatened railroad strike could come to an agreement on their own - called for Congressional action to impose a settlement if they couldn't. We may be nearing the time when Governor Newsom will need to do something similar.
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*Our prior coverage of the strike is at:
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/student-worker-strike-news-perb.html; http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-strike-if-it-drags-on-part-3.html; http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-strike-if-it-drags-on-part-2-hard.html; http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/strike-links.html; and
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-strike-if-it-drags-on.html. (Our note about arbitration is contained in this last link.)
**Video of the full session of that committee can be found at:
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