BERKELEY, Calif. (KCBS RADIO) – It could be the largest strike by student workers U.S. history.
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Nearly 50,000 researchers, teaching assistants and other academic employees at all 10 University of California campuses, including UC Berkeley, are walking off the job starting Monday morning, potentially shutting down hundreds of classes and labs.
"We are going to stop classes and we are going to disrupt the normal function of the university until we get what we want," Pe Feijo, a UC Berkeley PhD student and rank and file strike organizer, told KCBS Radio. "The university has no idea what’s in store for them."
The disgruntled graduate students, under their union "The United Auto Workers" (UAW), are primarily calling for a significant pay raise to account for the surging cost-of-living prices in the state. Many student workers make less than $24,000 a year.
"Right now what we make across California is simply not enough to make ends meet or to pay the rents," Feijo explained. "The rent burden is incredible for students."
"For the first three years that I lived in Berkeley, I paid around 80% of my monthly income directly to rent. There's not really a leeway to have a life here."
In addition, Max Smiley, a researcher in the physics department at Cal, said they are also seeking more affordable child care, transit passes, and disability access.
"UC currently isn't budging," he told KCBS Radio. "They're breaking the law."
"We're the ones that make this university function," he added.
According to UAW, the strike is the largest academic strike in higher education in U.S. history. The union is asking for a minimum salary of $54,000 for all graduate students and minimum $70,000 for all post docs.
In a statement, UC administration said "UC continues to negotiate in good faith...and is committed to working collaboratively with the union to finding solutions to outstanding issues."
The strike begins just weeks before finals. Normal school operations will continue during the work stoppage. UC Berkeley freshman Ashley Madera said she supports the strike, but is also concerned about not getting the help she needs to prepare for finals.
"I think it just means that we have to fend for ourselves a little bit," she said.
The striking students will receive $400 per week from their union "in the case that UC withholds our pay, which they most likely will," Smiley said.
In addition, the Washington Post reported that roughly 53,000 California-based UPS employees were authorized by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union to stop delivering to UC campuses during the strike.
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