More than 35,000 academic workers at the University of California voted to strike in what would be the largest strike of this year and the largest academic strike ever in the United States if it happens.
“We are taking this step because the University’s unlawful bargaining practices are preventing us from reaching agreements on fair pay, affordable housing, and workplace equity for international scholars and working parents,” Connor Jackson, a University of California at Berkeley graduate student and union steward, told The Daily Californian in an email. “We do the majority of teaching and research at UC, yet most of us are severely rent burdened because we are so underpaid.”
”On average, [academic student employees] spend over half of our income on rent, including those of us who reside in university housing,” according to UAW Local 2865. “And ASEs are not alone. Postdocs, Student Researchers, and Academic Researchers also face high rents and low pay. Now is the time to address compensation and the cost of living crisis to ensure an equitable access to opportunity at UC.”
● Call center workers who take calls about Medicare and Affordable Care Act health plans went out on strike this week, asking for higher pay and more breaks during their high-pressure days. The workers are employed by Maximus, a federal contractor.
● Starbucks' aggressive union-busting is a new model for American corporations, Steven Greenhouse writes.
● Workers at an Augusta, Maine, Chipotle were organizing a union when Chipotle closed that store. Now the National Labor Relations Board has issued a complaint calling on the company to reopen the store and give the workers back their jobs.
● Union organizing is exploding in this unlikely city, Paula Pecorella reports at More Perfect Union. Go ahead and click to find out what city.
● Chicago teachers: Notes from a fighting union—former Chicago Teachers Union Jesse Sharkey reflects.
●
Sign the petition to President Biden: Expand worker power.
