Solidarity with UC Lecturers

After two years working without a contract, Unit 18 lecturers have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. Non-tenure lecturers affiliated with the UC-AFT (University Council-American Federation of Teachers) teach 30% of classes on UC campuses. Often they have the same training and credentials as tenure system faculty, but they have little job security, often hiring on by the course for low salaries, and forced to re-apply each year for their jobs.

Lecturers are demanding greater job security, improved salaries and benefits, and a more transparent appointment process. So far, university negotiators have not met their demands. According to UCLA lecturer Mia McIver, President of the system-wide union, “These are common-sense proposals, many of which are already in practice at the CSUs and CA Community Colleges. Teaching University of California students should not be a gig economy job, yet thousands of phenomenal lecturers lose their jobs each year. We’re calling on the UC Office of the President to invest in excellent education at the UC.” – UC-AFT President Mia McIver

The strike authorization vote does not mean a strike will happen right away. The union and UCOP are currently in mediation, a process that may be followed by a third-party fact finding report before the union may strike.

Lecturers are asking individual Senate faculty to sign a statement of solidarity and prepare for a potential strike. You can learn more about the situation at UC-AFT’s We Teach UC website. We encourage you to sign the solidarity pledge.

Faculty Associations across the system are gearing up to support lecturers. Read the statement of the Council of UC Faculty Associations below:

Dear UC Senate Faculty Colleagues,

We are UC Senate faculty and members of the Council of University of California Faculty Associations (CUCFA) writing to ask you to sign a Pledge of Solidarity with Our Lecturer Colleagues throughout the UC system as they negotiate a new contract.

The University of California is dependent on the 6,800 lecturers it employs: they teach one-third of undergraduate hours across the system, and on some campuses more than half. Three out of four lecturers work on short-term contracts with no job stability, no fair and consistent evaluation process, and no contractual assurance that they’ll be considered for renewal. Their median annual salary is $19,067, even as UC campuses are located in regions with some of the highest costs of living in the country. Most departments would not be able to mount their curricula without the skilled labor of these dedicated educators.

The quality of undergraduate education at the University of California depends upon ALL of its faculty, lecturers included. Our lecturer colleagues’ precarious working conditions are our students’ learning conditions.

We support the lecturers’ fight to strengthen job stability, improve wages and benefits, and ensure fair compensation and workload that reflects their training, experience, and contributions to the UC. Stabilizing the teaching workforce would not only be fair and just, it also would benefit UC students who deserve this investment in high-quality education. (For more information, see UC-AFT’s campaign website.)

For the first time in over 20 years, and after 2 years of negotiations, our lecturer colleagues, represented by UC-AFT, have voted with an overwhelming majority of 96% to authorize a strike. As Senate faculty, we stand in solidarity with them.

The Pledge linked to below lays out a number of actions you can take, including honoring the lecturers’ picket line should they go out on strike. The signatories to this letter are not calling on Senate faculty to vote to strike. Rather, we want to inform you that we have a free speech and HEERA-protected right to honor our lecturer colleagues’ picket line (see FAQ).

Please click HERE to read and sign the pledge, checking the boxes indicating how you will stand in solidarity.

For more information, click on this FAQ, contact CUCFA or your Faculty Association, and check out UC-AFT’s campaign website.

With appreciation and in solidarity,

CUCFA Executive Board