UCI academic workers seek living wage alongside colleagues across UC system
Los Angeles timesNov 16, 2022
Coming just weeks before final exams, nearly 48K University of California (UC) teaching assistants, researchers, postdoctoral students, tutors, and graders have gone on strike in response to the rising cost of living. They're seeking higher pay and benefits, including childcare subsidies.
Despite the strike, which is represented by the United Automobile Workers union, the roughly 300K-student university system said that its 10 campuses would remain open and that instruction and operations would continue.
For years these research assistants and teachers have worked tirelessly to ensure that UC schools remain prestigious learning environments. Housing prices are outrageous, which is why tens of thousands of workers across the state have decided to stand up in solidarity.
The UC has bargained in good faith, yet this union-led strike has created massive disruptions to campus operations just ahead of finals. With classes being canceled, the ultimate end users of the UC system, students, are feeling the stress of this dispute.