ABOUT

UAW Local 2865 is the union for 36,000+ Tutors, Readers, Graduate Student Instructors, Graduate Student Researchers, and Teaching Assistants at the University of California. All graduate students are eligible to join the union, and so are all undergraduates working as Tutors, Readers and UGSIs/TAs.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

 

 

 

⇧151%

base wage increase since 1999

 

 

 

>$8 Million

in back-pay damages and misclassification settlements since the 2018 contract

 

 

 

 

>10,000

workplace issues resolved through contract enforcement, including pay issues, issues of harassment and discrimination, and appointment security

 

 

 

WHAT DOES UAW 2865 DO?

 

    • Negotiate and enforce the contracts with the university that protect Academic Student Employees.

 

    • Organize to defend public education. For example, action taken by UAW 2865 members was key to reversing the Trump administration’s proposed tax on graduate student fee remissions.

 

    • Build community and create solidarity. As Audre Lorde writes, “Without community, there is no liberation.” UAW 2865 sees itself as part of a broader movement for justice, understanding that an injury to one is truly an injury to all.

 

MILESTONES

2000

University of California and UAW 2865 membership agree to our first contract after decades of student workers fighting for a union and better working conditions.

2018

Despite an anti-union Supreme Court decision (Janus), UAW 2865 grows majority membership statewide and wins a new contract with new rights in several areas.  

2022

36,000 Academic Student Employees go on strike alongside 12,000 Academic Researchers and Postdocs in the largest-ever higher education strike in the United States.

2023

17,000 Student Researchers join UAW 2865