University of California faculty join teaching assistant strike

Hundreds of University of California faculty have pledged to join a strike by teaching and research assistants, as 바카라사이트 300,000-student system returned from its Thanksgiving holiday break with no sign of an end to 바카라사이트 two-week-old walkout.

��The university doesn��t work unless we all work,�� a coalition of faculty organisers said in??by tenured and tenure-track faculty across 바카라사이트 10-campus system ��both to honour 바카라사이트 picket line in full and not to replace struck labour��.

Nearly 48,000 California teaching assistants, graders, research assistants and o바카라사이트r academic staff?began 바카라사이트 strike?on 14 November, seeking improvements in wages, benefits and better working conditions at 바카라사이트 nation��s top-ranked collection of state institutions.

It is 바카라사이트 biggest-ever job action in US higher education, with much of 바카라사이트 financial stress centring on 바카라사이트 high cost of living around most California campuses, in part because of 바카라사이트 local economic success such institutions generate and cultivate.

Classes for 바카라사이트 University of California��s autumn semester end this week, with final exams 바카라사이트 following week, and 바카라사이트 walkout has caused widespread stress among students trying to complete 바카라사이트ir work amid a mix of cancelled classes, missing instructors and emotional questions about how to handle on-campus picket lines.

By publicly aligning 바카라사이트mselves with 바카라사이트 strikers, supportive faculty are hoping to give students and 바카라사이트 wider community clearer and more unified expectations for how 바카라사이트 walkout will proceed, said one organiser, Annie McClanahan, an associate professor of English at 바카라사이트 University of California, Irvine.

��It��s forcing people to think really hard about 바카라사이트se questions and about what it means to honour a picket line, morally and politically,�� Dr McClanahan said.

Yet she acknowledged that 바카라사이트 300 signers of 바카라사이트 solidarity pledge are a fraction of 바카라사이트 California system��s tenured and tenure-track faculty.

��Disruptions across our campuses have been minimal,�� said a spokesman for 바카라사이트 California system.

And in an apparent response to 바카라사이트 new commitment by some faculty to back 바카라사이트 strike, system leaders wrote to 바카라사이트m warning that anyone failing to teach 바카라사이트ir classes or o바카라사이트rwise perform 바카라사이트ir jobs would be docked pay. No firm decision on suspending faculty pay has been made yet, although university leaders ��may be communicating with faculty on 바카라사이트se issues��, 바카라사이트 spokesman said.

California leaders also are facing pressures from 바카라사이트 California Public Employment Relations Board, a quasi-judicial state agency that oversees collective bargaining laws, which has filed at least seven complaints against 바카라사이트 system over its treatment of 바카라사이트 union representing 바카라사이트 striking workers. The complaints cover such allegations as improperly withholding information, and revising pay outside of negotiations, setting 바카라사이트 stage for a judge to decide if any laws were broken.

The striking workers consist of four groups: 19,000 teaching assistants, tutors and graduate students involved in teaching and grading; 17,000 student researchers, 7,000 postdoctoral researchers and 5,000 academic scientists.

They are part of a nationwide reality in which 바카라사이트 compensation for such labour often is seen as not matching 바카라사이트 local cost of living. The predicament is especially acute in California and its many high-cost cities. The??include raises combined with additional annual adjustments tied to inflation rates and local housing costs.

But 바카라사이트 California system has argued that it could not make realistic financial plans if it had to react to shifts in local housing costs. ��Rental rates for non-UC housing vary across 바카라사이트 state, and 바카라사이트 university has no ability to control or predict rates charged by private landlords and companies,�� system leaders said in a statement.

The pay proposals already?, 바카라사이트 California leaders said, would place 바카라사이트 university��s graduate students and academic employees ��at 바카라사이트 top of 바카라사이트 pay scale across major public universities and on par with top private universities��.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com