We have previously posted about an impending student worker strike, currently set to occur just before the Regents meet next week.* The UCLA Academic Senate sent out the notice below yesterday. Below that you will find an editorial on the planned strike from the Los Angeles Times.
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To: Academic Senate Faculty
Dear Colleagues:
We are writing to update faculty on issues related to the UAW strike called for November 14, 2022.
First, some background. The strike includes four bargaining units comprised of academic appointees: 1) Academic Student Employees (TAs/Readers/Tutors); 2) Postdoctoral Scholars; 3) Academic Researchers (Specialists/Project Scientists/Professional Researchers); and 4) Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs, including some on training grants and external fellowships). The University of California’s contracts with several of these groups expired on October 31, and the first GSR contract is under negotiation. The UAW membership conducted a strike authorization vote that ended November 2, and the large majority of members voted to authorize a strike. The university Administration and the union are negotiating the four contracts.
The Academic Senate and faculty are not involved in the negotiations between the University of California Administration and the union.
The Academic Senate, in advancing the academic mission of teaching, research, and service, supports the learning and well-being of all students, graduate and undergraduate, as well as trainees. Graduate students play an essential role in research and teaching at the University of California, and the Academic Senate has recognized that the current graduate funding model is broken. We also support Senate members as we faculty navigate a possible strike that will affect both our teaching and our research.
Faculty are raising many questions about the strike, including whether to perform struck work and whether they have the right not to cross picket lines. It is imperative that faculty have flexibility in how they respond to the strike. Faculty must not be expected to take on additional labor if they choose not to do so.
At the intersection of research with education, a GSR strike at UCLA is unprecedented. It raises challenging questions about how to assess student research that is conducted for course credits and also as GSR labor. We sought clarification from the Office of the President of the University of California about options available to faculty, and we hope to convey their answers in the days to come.
For faculty who ask how to manage disruption to instruction, there is no one-size-fits-all response given the diversity of instruction on our campus. Faculty possess customary discretion and autonomy to adapt their courses to strike circumstances while honoring Academic Senate regulations. At this time changes to those regulations are not anticipated, though a lengthy strike would raise questions about regulations governing final exam format. About these and other strike-related matters, we welcome your input as we continue to work hard to find answers and solutions. We will keep you informed of any developments in the divisional or systemwide Academic Senate, and we urge you to communicate with enrolled students about change and continuity in your courses.
We are grateful for your commitment to our students and colleagues and to the academic mission, especially as we remain concerned about the pandemic’s heavy and uneven toll on faculty and recognize the acute need to address faculty workload, rebuilding, and renewal.
Jessica Cattelino, Chair, Academic Senate
Andrea Kasko, Vice Chair/Chair-Elect, Academic Senate
Shane White, Immediate Past Chair, Academic Senate
Kathy Bawn, Chair, Undergraduate Council
James Bisley, Chair, Graduate Council
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From the LA Times editorial board, November 9, 2022:
A strike by UC academic workers would tarnish the prestigious university system
If the University of California and 48,000 academic workers fail to reach an agreement on pay increases and other benefits in the next few days it may tarnish a higher education system long seen as the best in the country.
With less than a month before final exams, communities at campuses across the UC system are nervously awaiting an agreement before Nov. 14. That’s when the workers, including teaching assistants, tutors, postdoctoral scholars and other academic employees, are prepared to strike, which means students would have to rely solely on professors for grades or one-on-one help. It’s an implosion that should have been averted long before now, considering that negotiations have been underway for more than a year.
The workers are represented by four bargaining units of the United Auto Workers and have banded together for more bargaining power. These workers, who say they do most of the teaching, grading and research, last week announced their membership authorized a statewide strike if UC doesn’t cease “unlawful conduct” by doing things such as making contract changes without first discussing them during negotiations. In response, UC maintains it is listening to these workers with a “genuine willingness to compromise” as shown by the tentative agreements on issues such as health and safety after more than 50 bargaining sessions.
Fair compensation has been the stickiest — and most important — demand on which UC and the four unions representing the workers have been unable to concur. The heart of the debate is whether these workers are earning enough to afford housing near campus, which can be outrageously expensive, particularly in Los Angeles, Berkeley, Irvine and Santa Cruz.
They have a point. The average teacher assistant salary is about $24,000, which is considerably less than median rent in Los Angeles. More than 92% of these workers are rent-burdened, a designation that means more than 30% of their salary is allocated for housing costs. Of these rent-burdened employees, about 40% use more than half of their salary on housing.
UC has offered pay increases during the multiyear contracts, ranging from 4% in the first year for academic researchers to 7% for academic student employees. The proposal included smaller raises in subsequent years to the different bargaining units, but workers rejected the offers, saying they don’t go far enough. There are other provisions on the bargaining table, including a child-care subsidy and transit passes, that will help ease affordability, but agreeing on adequate pay raises is key.
What does it say about a university system touted as one of the Golden State’s best attributes if its intellectual workforce can’t afford to live in the state? The UC system has long been considered among the finest in the country, with six of its campuses listed among the top 10 public universities in the United States in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Colleges rankings.
It’s clear that UC administrators have tough budget choices to make. However, these academic workers play such a critical role and deserve to earn enough to pay for basic needs.
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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2022/11/student-strike-news.html.
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https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/planned%20student%20strike%20part%202.mp3
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