strikes

| | | | | |

UCLA Faculty Association Condemns UC Sidestepping Labor Board, Ongoing Rights Violations on Campus 

Byadmin

Last week, the University of California (UC) circumvented acceptable labor dispute practices to pause the UAW 4811 unfair labor practice (ULP) strike. The strike was twice allowed to proceed by the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), the labor body which will ultimately determine the strike’s legality. This extreme approach by the UC is deeply concerning because it undermines labor laws and the right of PERB to adjudicate labor disputes. We should all be concerned when our administration sidesteps best processes and “venue shops” until they find a court likely to decide in their favor. Such repressive, anti-labor tactics are typical…

| |

What to do when grades come due? CUCFA Virtual Town Hall, Fri 7/7 @ noon

Byadmin

Many UCLA faculty are teaching courses with TAs who are on strike, and therefore striking TAs may not be grading final assignments and exams. What does this mean for us as faculty? What does it mean for our undergraduates, their courses, and their final grades?  The UCLA Faculty Association invites all UCLA faculty to participate in a Virtual Town Hall Meeting this Friday, June 7 from 12-1PM hosted by CUCFA (Council of UC Faculty Associations). This meeting is intended to be an opportunity for faculty to think through and share the policies that have been devised by other faculty at…

|

Know Your Rights: Faculty and the UAW Strike

Byadmin

As many of you are aware, UC graduate students and academic workers belonging to United Auto Workers Local 4811 have voted to authorize a strike in the wake of vigilante and police violence against UCLA students, staff, and faculty on April 30 and May 2. The UAW is striking over alleged UC unfair labor practices (ULPs) in violation of HEERA. A strike over severe ULPs is protected by the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) even when there is a general no-strike clause in the union’s contract. It is the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), not the UC, that would…

|

Post-strike grading

Byhigbie

The UAW strike is over, but considerable fall quarter grading remains unfinished. Senate and Unit-18 faculty are not obliged and cannot be compelled to complete grading that was assigned to readers and graduate student instructors during the fall quarter. The university can hire readers and teaching assistants (including those employed during the fall) to complete the grading with appropriate compensation. Leaders of UC Faculty Associations, UC-AFT, and UAW issued a letter to UCOP Labor Relations calling for central funding of the extra costs associated with completing fall grading. You can read the letter here and below: January 4, 2023 Letitia…

|

Sign On to the Faculty Association Statement Regarding Possible Strike by UAW 2865, UAW 5810 and SRY-UAW

Byadmin

Please consider signing on to the Faculty Association Statement Regarding Possible Strike by UAW 2865, UAW 5810 and SRY-UAW: Graduate students, postdocs, and other academic student employees are essential to the teaching and research mission of the University of California, especially as undergraduate enrollments rise. Given the escalating costs of living in California, 48,000 people in the UC system represented by three unions–UAW 2865, UAW 5810, and SRU-UAW–are coordinating their fight for living wages, affordable UC housing, greater support for working parents, sustainable transit benefits, equity for international scholars, and other improvements that would strengthen teaching and research across the…

|

Open Letter: Senate faculty support UC-AFT strike, November 17-18

Byhigbie

UC-AFT and the UC reached a tentative agreement and the strike is cancelled. Read the details here: https://ucaft.org/content/uc-aft-teaching-faculty-reach-historic-agreement. Thanks to all who signed our letter of solidarity. To the UCLA Community: We the undersigned Senate faculty stand in solidarity with our fellow faculty represented by the University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT). Lecturers across the UC system have been working without a contract for more than two years. They charge the university with bad faith bargaining, which is a violation of state law, and they plan to strike on November 17 and 18. This situation is intolerable and we call…

|

UC-AFT Strike: Nov 17-18

Byhigbie

Non-tenure faculty across the University of California voted for a two-day strike this week, November 17 and 18. UC-AFT lecturers have been working without a contract for more than two years, and they charge the university with several unfair labor practices including refusal to bargain on key issues. Lecturers teach as much as a third of courses across the University of California. They have little or no job security, and are paid much less than faculty on a per class basis. These conditions undermine faculty welfare and threaten the future of public higher education. The UCLA Faculty Association/AAUP stands in…

|

Solidarity with UC Lecturers

Byhigbie

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…

| |

UC Workers to Strike: 10/23-25

Byhigbie

Campus workers affiliated with AFSCME local 3299 and UPTE-CWA local 9119 voted overwhelmingly to authorize strikes at the University of California after bargaining stalled. After the vote, AFSCME announced that members in several bargaining units would strike on October 23, 24, and 25. UPTE then announced its members would strike on the same dates. Last