Thousands of UC workers continue the halt of classes before finals.

Two bargains were proposed to the campuses - the schools have yet to ratify.

By Ava Rosate, Staff Writer

All 10 University of California schools halted classes in response to the nation’s largest academic worker strike that began three weeks ago and is expected to continue through the final exam week.

Though bargains have been pitched to UC campuses, union workers have yet to ratify them into place. The bargains in question are an annual $15,000 pay raise with adjustments by the end of a five year contract and a $12,000 raise by October.

The picketers, consisting of students, student workers, teacher assistants and professors, are protesting low wages and poor worker benefits. The United Auto Workers represent all 48,000 academic workers in four fields: postdoctoral scholars, academic researchers, academic student employees and graduate student researchers.

“UCLA is the number one public school in the nation, because of us,” Michael Dean, a Ph.D graduate and academic researcher said during the rally outside of the Powell Library. “We are the ones who do all their research, who find funding for programs, who write the grants. Our compensation should reflect that.”

Hundreds of graduates and undergraduates alike, across seven different picket lines, flood the campus over the course of several hours each day chanting messages through bullhorns and toting signs.

The inflation rate in California stood at 8.2 percent in September. The cost of living hike, combined with the average rent in Los Angeles being over $36,000 each year, and topped with a $23,000 annual pay, could make attending or working for a UC school difficult.

“We are asking for the rent burden to end, and for basic benefits such as paid childcare,” said a teaching assistant in the physics department, Morgaine Mandigo-Stoba. “I get paid less than $2,500 a month. Rent on campus is almost $23,000 a year, which averages out to $2,500 a month. This is outrageous.”

According to the United Auto Workers, 36 unfair labor practices have been filed as of Tuesday, Nov. 15. The charges range from counts of union intimidation to surveying bargaining members.

The UC office of the President issued a statement to CBS 8 that said the school system is negotiating with United Auto Workers and is seeking a new multi year contract “with fair pay, quality health and family-friendly benefits and a supportive and respectful work environment.

The strike is expected to last after final exams, or until a bargain is reached. According to an email sent out to all students and faculty on Monday Nov. 14, representatives from each UC campus were traveling to UC Irvine to begin bargaining on Tuesday Nov. 15. Per a second email sent out Tuesday morning, the bargain meeting was canceled due to their inability to find a conference room.

“We will be out here tomorrow and everyday at 8 a.m. until our demands are met,” said Michael Dean, a seventh year academic researcher for UCLA. “We need to stay out for a day longer than they expect us to be. One day longer, one day stronger.”