University of California (UC) postdoctoral scholars and researchers resumed work this week after ratifying a labor contract over the weekend, but 36,000 graduate student workers continue to strike.
Last month, 48,000 researchers and student employees across all 10 UC campuses launched a strike, demanding, in part, pay raises due to cost-of-living increases.
UC officials struck a tentative deal with the postdoctoral scholars and researchers Nov. 29, who have said they would not return to work until their contract was ratified and out of solidarity with the remaining graduate students.
According to United Auto Workers, the union representing the strikers, the agreement for postdoctoral scholars includes up to a 23 percent salary increase by October 2023, up to $2,500 in annual childcare reimbursement with annual $100 increases over the next three years, two-year initial appointments, and a new paid leave program with 100 percent pay for up to eight weeks.
The tentative agreement for academic researchers includes a pay raise of 4.5 percent for the first year, 3.5 percent in the second, third, and fourth years, and 4 percent in the fifth year; eight weeks of 100 percent paid family leave; increased bereavement leave; and a new system to address workplace conduct and conflict resolution.
The contracts will be in effect through Sept. 30, 2027.
UC officials announced Dec. 9 they would continue to negotiate a contract for graduate student workers through a third-party mediator, later announced as Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg.
“Darrell Steinberg has developed a reputation as a fair-minded public servant and skilled negotiator who brings people together. I believe Mayor Steinberg is uniquely positioned to help facilitate a fair and reasonable contract that allows us to support our students as they work towards their degrees,” UC President Michael Drake said in a Dec. 12 statement, adding that he hopes the mayor can help secure a fair deal as quickly as possible.
“Our faculty, students, and staff have shouldered the burden of a strike for far too long. We all know the tremendous impact our graduate student employees make, and it is my hope that with the mayor’s help we can quickly secure a fair deal that honors those contributions,” Drake said.
Steinberg also said he looks forward to helping both parties secure a contract.
“The University of California is a critical institution that educates the next generation of leaders and helps drive the state’s economy. We must ensure that the fruits of the university’s impact are being fairly distributed to everyone involved in its mission,” he said. “It is my hope that both parties will enter this mediation with an open mind, a spirit of goodwill, and a focus on compromise.”
Details of the mediation schedule are still being agreed upon, according to UC officials.
