TA Petition

Office of Instructional Development TA training program registration

From the Daily Bruin: More than 400 faculty members at the University of California have signed on to a petition calling for UC officials to negotiate fairly and sincerely with teaching assistants and other student academic workers who plan to strike during finals week.  The petition, sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Faculty Association and started about a week ago, calls for UC President Janet Napolitano to negotiate in good faith with student academic workers who recently threatened to strike if they do not reach a new contract with the UC. The United Auto Workers Local 2865, a union representing teaching assistants and other academic workers, is demanding smaller class sizes, equal access for undocumented workers and higher wages.

Brooke Converse, a UC spokeswoman, said she thinks the University has offered teaching assistants a substantial financial package. She added that it is prohibited under federal law for universities to hire undocumented workers.

Tobias Higbie, an associate professor of history at UCLA who signed the petition, said he is mostly concerned that the quality of teaching at the UC may decline during the strike because teaching assistants help instruct students and work closely with them on coursework...

Full story at http://dailybruin.com/2014/05/29/petition-calls-for-negotiations-with-uaw-local-2865/ 

UPDATE: "UC academic service workers announce second strike" is at http://dailybruin.com/2014/05/23/uc-academic-service-workers-announce-second-strike/.  [This article predates the one above but has additional information.]