The day after the University of California and union leaders representing 36,000 academic workers announced a breakthrough agreement that could end a five-week strike, graduate student supporters and opponents of the tentative pact expressed opposing viewpoints regarding the agreement.
Rafael Jaime, president of one of the two United Auto Workers bargaining units involved in the negotiations, hailed Friday's agreement as a "historic" victory that would transform the lives of thousands of graduate student workers and inspire others to fight for better wages and working conditions. According to him, the pact would increase minimum wages by as much as 80 percent and enhance support for child care, dependent healthcare, and international students.
Saturday, Jaime declared, "This contract really does set a new standard for higher education institutions." It is a significant step toward creating a UC that is accessible to workers of all backgrounds.
However, opponents of the proposed agreement announced on Saturday that they will launch a statewide campaign urging their peers to reject ratification. They stated that the wage increases are not as substantial as advertised, won't be fully implemented until the fall of 2024, and would do little to alleviate the rent burden for academic employees struggling to afford housing in expensive areas where many UC campuses are located.
Mark Woodall, a UC Merced PhD candidate in physics and chair of his UAW 2865 campus unit, stated that the tentative agreement abandoned the demand to link wage gains and housing costs, which he referred to as the "organizing principle" behind the walkout that began on November 14 with 48,000 teaching assistants, tutors, researchers, and postdoctoral fellows.
