UC makes comprehensive economic proposal to ASE’s and SR’s

Nov 30, 2022

In this update:

The collective power of our unfair labor practice strikes has never been more palpable. Last night Academic Workers reached tentative agreements on contracts that will profoundly improve workplace conditions for Postdocs and Academic Researchers. And today we saw that the public and much of the University community are in our corner, and that the University is on their heels in response to Academic Workers’ unwavering determination to win fair contracts for all. Stay tuned for more information about next steps to escalate our fight for a fair contract.

Bargaining Update
The University made proposals on Appointment Notification and Summer Session for ASEs today, and the bargaining team reached a tentative agreement on these two articles, improving on ASEs’ rights to appointment notifications and job security during Summer Session.

GSRs and ASEs achieved a major victory on leaves: after years of fighting to expand paid parental leave, the University has finally agreed to provide 8 weeks of paid parental leave – equal for child-bearing and non-child-bearing parents – and has expanded leave for workers’ own serious health conditions from five to eight weeks.

In other economic areas, the University did not move far enough. The bargaining teams will be preparing responses. Expect more bargaining updates tomorrow.

Postdoc and AR Tentative Agreement Town Halls and Ratification Vote schedule
The UAW 5810 Executive Board has voted to hold the ratification votes on the Postdoc and Academic Researcher Tentative Agreements from Monday, December 5 through Friday December 9. The tentative agreements can be viewed on the Postdoc and AR Bargaining Proposal trackers here: AR Tentative Agreement and Postdoc Tentative Agreement.

The AR and Postdoc Bargaining Teams are holding town hall meetings to discuss the Tentative Agreements on Thursday and Monday.

AR Tentative Agreement Town Halls:
Thursday, December 1 at 10am – Click to RSVP
Monday, December 5 at 4pm – Click to RSVP

Postdoc Tentative Agreement Town Halls:
Thursday, December 1 at Noon – Click to RSVP
Monday, December 5 at 6pm – Click to RSVP

UC Must Cease Threatening Retaliation
Today, UAW sent UC a cease and desist letter over UC’s threats to retaliate against SRs and TAs. Some PIs have threatened to revoke appointments for next quarter, another violation of labor law and a weak attempt to demotivate workers from striking, rather than sitting down at the table and making serious proposals in negotiations. Additionally, UC has threatened to retaliate against strikers by lowering grades in research and teaching “dummy” courses that workers must take as a condition of employment. The assertion that SRs and ASEs must continue to make progress in these courses which would require them to do work they are currently striking is a clear violation of the right to strike. Workers have rallied against these underhanded tactics across the state and UAW will pursue remedies to the fullest extent of the law.

Guidance on Academic Progress, Final Exams, and Grade Submission
You can find guidance on the above issues, as well as a template email to send to your professor in the event of an on-campus exam that would require crossing a picket line, here.

Media Roundup
Our historic strike, and our industry-standard setting tentative agreements, continue to attract significant media attention. See a list of notable articles from today below, including an opinion piece from UCB economist Matthew Tauzer that exposes UC’s for-profit real estate speculation in campus communities and their role in creating the housing crisis all Academic Workers suffer under. Read and share this story as well as the ones below!

In solidarity,

UAW 5810 Academic Researcher Bargaining Team
UAW 2865 Academic Student Employee Bargaining Team
UAW 5810 Postdoc Bargaining Team
SRU-UAW Student Researcher Bargaining Team