In this update:
- Why UC’s cuts are unacceptable
- Survey on potential impact of cuts
- RSVP to attend 2/22 campus rallies to oppose cuts
The dust has barely settled from our historic strike and UC is already hard at work trying to find ways out of the agreement. In response to the raises won in our new contracts, UC is now threatening to reduce the size of the academic workforce. This is not an inevitable outcome–it is a matter of priorities. UC has the means to ensure quality education and research as well as living wages who perform the lionshare of that work. All it’s missing is the will.
In the past two weeks, workers from 89 departments on 8 campuses reported that they have heard about job-cutting measures being considered as one way to pay for the raises in our contracts. These measures include shrinking research groups, declining to re-appoint researchers, reducing appointment percentages, eliminating TA discussion sections, increasing undergraduate class sizes, and reducing the overall number of graduate students enrolled by as much as 33%.
These measures would be unacceptable in any circumstances, but they are especially unacceptable given that the University of California is bringing in more money than it ever has before. Many campuses — including UCSF, UCSD, UC Davis, UCLA, UC Irvine — have reported record-breaking research funding. Moreover, the 2023-2024 California state budget includes an additional $200,000,000 for the express purpose of increasing graduate enrollment. Meanwhile, the combined wages for all Teaching Assistants across the system account for less than 2% of the budget.
UC is the nation’s premier university system, and it can afford to fully staff its classrooms, laboratories, and research centers. Join your coworkers in the fight to stop these job cuts:
- Take the survey – What have you heard about possible job cuts in your department and how will they impact teaching and research?
- RSVP to attend the Feb. 22nd action (same link as above) – Workers on all 10 campuses are organizing rallies to show UC we are watching.