From CGEU
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
6,154 UAW 2865 MEMBERS DEMAND THAT UC NEGOTIATE FAIRLY
UNION MEMBERS MOBILIZED FOR A STRONG CONTRACT BY 9/30
Contact: Scott Bailey Clifthorne, President (510) 549 3863
(California) – 6,154 members of UAW 2865, the Union representing over
12,000 Teaching Assistants, Tutors, and Readers throughout the University
of California system, have signed on to a public statement calling on UC
to negotiate fairly and reach agreement by September 30. The text of the
statement can be seen below:
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STATEMENT TEXT:
We, the undersigned union members, call upon the university administration
to abide by its duty to bargain with the UAW in a productive,
constructive, and lawful manner so that by the expiration date of the
current contract we have a new contract to ratify, which includes:
1. wages that are on par with ASEs at UC-competitor institutions and
which reflect the high cost of UC attendance and living expenses in UC
communities;
2. full fee and tuition remissions;
3. improved health coverage;
4. family-friendly provisions including child care, parental leave, and
health coverage for our dependents, spouses and partners;
5. enhanced workload rights that address increasing class sizes and the
ability to enforce these rights through arbitration;
6. increased transparency in hiring decisions;
7. summer-session compensation and rights that are the same as the
academic year;
8. the preservation of our right to bargain campus issues on individual
campuses;
9. our right to stand in solidarity with other UC employees when they
are striking.
Our work at the University is vital to its mission, and our working
conditions directly impact the learning conditions of its students. If the
University Administration refuses to acknowledge our demands and delays
passage of a new contract, we are committed to taking whatever steps are
necessary to ensure compliance, up to and including direct action, if
called upon to do so by the Union.
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“Members are really fired up about contract negotiations,” said UCLA
Biomedical Engineering Teaching Assistant Mark Roden. “We’re fighting for
very important rights and benefits right now. As the statement clearly
shows, the majority demands that the University bargain fairly.”
“Our membership is highly mobilized. Not only have 6,154 members already
signed this public statement, but the number continues to grow,” said
Samantha Iyer, Reader and Bargaining Team member from UC Berkeley.
“Everyone is highly focused on and working toward reaching agreement by
contract expiration. Despite the University’s unwillingness to engage and
foot dragging on important issues, we are at the table, ready to reach
agreement by September 30.”
The UAW and the U.C. have been in contract talks for a fourth agreement
since March. An electronic version of the Union’s bargaining demands and
this public statement are available at http://www.uaw2865.org. Academic
Student Employees perform a majority of face-to-face education at the
University of California. Nationally, the UAW represents over 27,000
Academic Student Employees at colleges and universities.
