More than 20,000 members of United Auto Workers units across the UC system voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike over the university’s alleged unfair labor practices.
While the vote does not immediately initiate a strike, it means that union leaders can call a strike if they deem it necessary.
Three of six UAW units — which together represent more than 40,000 graduate student instructors, researchers and student services staff throughout the UC system — participated in the vote. More than 90% of voting members supported the measure by the time voting ended Friday.
These three union units are demanding administrators stop alleged unfair labor practices which they say are delaying “full and fair agreements” with the university, according to a press release published Friday.
Unfair labor practices, according to UAW Local 4811’s website, include allegedly limiting the semesters that teaching assistants can work in certain departments at UC Berkeley and UCLA without notice or an opportunity to bargain, as well as failing to sufficiently respond to requests for information regarding wages and health benefits, among others.
“Our contract will not expire until March 1, and we’re looking forward to meeting with the university’s bargaining committee next week,” said Tanzil Chowdhury, a reader for the UC Berkeley materials science and engineering department and the Academic Student Employee statewide chair for UAW Local 4811.“Ultimately, the question of whether or not a strike happens is all in management’s hands. They can at any time design practices, come to the table and bargain with us fairly toward a good agreement.”
Chowdhury said the circumstances of the strike vote are similar to the UAW’s 2022 strike. In that strike vote, 36,558 votes were cast out of nearly 50,000 members.
According to a Friday UAW press release, 23,314 votes were cast out of more than 40,000 members.A similar margin of voters, 98% in 2022 compared to 93.3% this year, supported the strike.
The three units have their own bargaining teams, as well as separate votes. Of Academic Student Employees, 93.45% voted to authorize a strike,while 92.8% of Research and Public Service Professionals and Student Services and Advising Professionals.
Nikta Akhavan, a project policy analyst for the Research and Public Service Professionals bargaining unit of UAW, alleges that the university is also engaging in “bad faith bargaining.”
“UC management is insisting that we accept what other staff unions have agreed to in contracts instead of bargaining over proposals that meet the needs of our units,” Akhavan said.
Each of the three units has their own bargaining processes and leadership team, meaning the decision to strike could come at different times, even though the vote was coordinated between the three units.
In a statement Saturday, the UC Office of the President said it was “disappointed” with the vote.
“Since July, UC has met consistently with UAW, exchanged proposals, and reached nearly two dozen tentative agreements for academic student employees,” the UCOP statement said. “We will enter mediation next week to build on the progress we have already made at the table.”