Judy: The largest strike of the
year in the U.S., and the
largest strike in higher
education ever, is now in its
fourth week in California.
This battle is playing out at
the university of California.
And at its core is a fight over
compensation for graduate
students, teaching assistants
and postdoctoral workers who do
much of the research and
teaching on campus.
William brangham looks at the
stakes of this showdown.
William: Judy, since
mid-november, more than 48,000
of these academic workers across
ten campuses in the U.C.
System have left the classroom.
They have taken to the streets
and airwaves advocating for
higher wages, improved housing,
and more generous leave for
parents and caregivers.
This group does not include
tenured professors.
The university system reached a
tentative agreement with some
workers last week, but the
strike continues -- as most of
the workers are saying they'll
stay out for as long as it takes
until their demands are met.
Tim Cain is watching all of this
closely.
He is an associate professor of
higher education at the
university of Georgia, as well
as associate editor of the
review of higher education.
Very nice to have you on.
Could you lay out the stakes
here?
Who is striking and what are
they demanding?
Tim: Sure.
There are four groups of workers
at the university of California
on strike currently.
As you mentioned, two of the
groups have reached tentative
agreements, those are being
voted upon right now.
These are graduate student
researchers, graduate student
teaching assistants, and
academic researchers.
These are full-time employees,
but not tenured faculty members.
The central issue is salaries,
which are according to the
unions, willfully low.
Especially when you consider the
cost of housing.
Many are rent burden, paying
more than one third of their
salary on housing per month.
Many pay more than half.
The on salaries, the union is
negotiating for increases in
childcare benefits, parental
leave, benefits to support
eco-friendly transit and a
respectful work environment.
William: Can you give us a sense
for those not that familiar with
higher education and how it is
structured and how work is
divided, who are these
individuals within that
ecosystem?
Tim: I think that is an
important question.
We have these pictures of
tenured faculty memories doing
the teaching and researching in
higher education, but in the
modern era, that is a small
percentage of it instructional
workers, it is about 25% on the
tenure.
75% of those doing the academic
work and teaching of undergrads,
about 75% are not tenured
faculty members.
They are graduate students,
people on short-term contracts.
They are among the most
precarious workers in higher
education.
Many times they are hired on a
semester or yearly basis.
One of the things, for example,
the postdoctoral workers have
negotiated for, is a two year
appointment rather than one year
appointment, to provide some
stability so work can be
improved also so they can have
an understanding of what their
living conditions will be.
William: When these workers say
to the university, we are an
integral part of your
educational mission and we are
the workers in this big
structure of the university
system and we need better pay
and better wages and conditions,
what has the university been
saying in response?
Tim: The university has been
saying the conditions are good
relative to other institutions.
They've said their current offer
would put the graduate students
on par with graduate students at
some of the most elite five it
institutions, and that for a
public institution, the
conditions are good.
The university does recognize
the challenges around housing at
uc institutions and they argue
that the housing they provide is
subsidized.
And 25% or so below what the
larger market would bear.
They argue that the conditions
are real, but they are working
to do everything they can to
meet needs food William: -- Meet
needs.
William: This is a huge strike.
Do you have a since this will
resonate outside the state?
Tim: I think it is resonating in
higher education specifically.
Other institutions are looking
to California to see what will
happen.
The other workers in higher
education are looking at this to
see how it will play out into
their options moving forward,
whether to unionize.
I think this is part of the
labor unrest we've seen in the
United States in the last
year-plus.
Coming out of covid, we've seen
people discontented with working
conditions, also a number of
people discontented with
discomfort -- with disparities
in salaries and working
conditions with those that own
and manage businesses and those
that do the work.
Right now I think we are at an
important labor moment in the
country's history.
This is going to have an impact
both in higher education writ
large, and the larger economy
writ large.
William: Tim, thank you for
being here.
Tim: Thank you for having me.