*News Update*
On December 23, the University of California reached an agreement with 48,000 striking workers, whose labor strike disrupted classes across ten campuses. The new contract will go through May 31, 2025 and will lead to pay raises for workers, with some of the lower-paid workers seeing an 80% pay raise and others getting a 29% pay bump. The contract also includes childcare subsidies of $2,000 or more per semester and family leave.
After months of public posturing, unionized University of California researchers, teaching assistants, and postdoctoral students officially went on strike this week to protest their current wages and compensation.
Union leaders blamed university administrators for the failed negotiations. Rafael Jaime, the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) 2865 chapter president, said, “Extremely low compensation – many workers make less than $24,000 a year – is leaving workers severely rent-burdened and struggling to remain in academia.”
Jaime added, “UC’s failure to support a diverse workforce undermines the quality of research and education across the system.”
Of the 48,000 workers UAW represents across the University of California’s 10 campuses, 19,000 are student workers.
The University of California administration disagreed with UAW’s claims and said, “UC continues to negotiate with the union and is committed to working collaboratively with the UAW to find solutions to outstanding issues.”
Despite an offer to increase salaries by 7% in the first year and 3% in subsequent years, workers did not budge. Instead, workers stood firm and demanded a base salary that more than doubles their current salary.
The strike will slow down the University’s operations across all ten campuses. Without researchers, teaching assistants, and other striking workers, the university administration anticipates that there would be a stoppage of research activities, classroom instruction, and grading.
Based on the university system’s academic calendar, their semester ends in mid-December. If this week’s strike drags on for a significant length of time, it could possibly delay the recording of grades ahead of final exams and the end of the semester.
There is no timeline for the UAW strike, but the pressure is on for both parties to reach an agreement to avoid delays affecting students and faculty alike.