Forty days into the largest strike of the year, and the largest strike ever at any institute of higher education, 36,000 academic student workers at UC have reached final agreements on new contracts. The agreements make historic gains in compensation, childcare subsidies, and paid leaves, and include groundbreaking new protections against bullying and discrimination.
The terms of the new contracts guarantee that wages will rise significantly for all workers, with up to an 80% increase for some of the lowest paid. Improvements in childcare and dependent coverage mean that more parents will be able to provide health care for their children. First-of-their kind anti-bullying measures will allow workers to finally address the systemic power imbalance in academia. And three years of remission of Non-Resident Student Tuition are now codified, meaning that international workers will be able to enforce this right and UC will not be able to take it away.
Eleven Thousand Postdoctoral Scholars and Academic Researchers, who struck alongside UC graduate student workers, previously approved a historic deal setting new wage standards for their industry.
SSDS attorneys Amy Cu, Daniel Curry, and Margo Feinberg advised Locals 5810 and 2865 and SRU-UAW on their historic strike and negotiations, including filing over 35 PERB charges.
Read the latest analysis from the Los Angeles Times, here.