Your union is holding its 2021 Triennial General Election to fill Executive Board and Joint Council positions. The election will take place on April 19-20, 2021. Follow this link for information about the election and instructions on how to accept the nomination if you are interested in running for one of these positions:
Anti-Sexual Harassment/Sexual Violence
UAW 2865 won new and groundbreaking protections against sexual harassment and racial discrimination in our 2018-2022 contract.
The #MeToo movement has focused attention on the rampant sexual harassment student workers face, with many cases at the University of California highlighting the failure of administrators to remove harassers and ensure the protection of survivors and their careers.
As part of this movement, UAW 2865 members mobilized during contract negotiations and won survivor-centered protections which can be pursued as alternatives to the flawed Title IX process. The new discrimination protections include interim measures so that student-workers who have reported harassment or discrimination can continue working and learning in a safe environment. The campaign also won the right of student-workers to choose to use the Union grievance process concurrently with a Title IX investigation.
To continue the movement and to ensure that these new rights are enforced and available to all student workers on UC campuses, join your coworkers in the statewide Sexual Harassment & Sexual Violence committee.
Have you or a colleague experienced–or are currently experiencing–sexual or racial discrimination in the workplace? Contact your union.
March Executive Board Meeting
The March Monthly Executive Board Meeting will take place Monday, March 29th from 12-2pm.
- Maryland Solidarity Letter (12-12:05)
- Organizing Updates (12:10-1:00)
- Organizing
- Housing
- International
- Anti-Policing
- GND
- Political Organizing
- Legislative updates
- Bills to endorse/oppose
- Arbitrations (1:00-1:30)
- Administrative and Financial Updates (1:30-1:45)
UAW 2865 Host Account is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: March Eboard Call
Time: This is a recurring meeting Meet anytime
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Meeting ID: 834 5212 9151
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Meeting ID: 834 5212 9151
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/knBtBibTh
Monthly Executive Board Meeting
The February Monthly Executive Board Meeting will take place Thursday, February 25th at 1pm. Zoom info below:
Zoom Information
UAW 2865 Host Account is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: January EBoard Meeting
Time: Jan 16, 2021 01:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 891 5056 9995
Passcode: 816227
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+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Washington D.C)
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+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 891 5056 9995
Passcode: 816227
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kb9dhPoB2
UAW 2865 and UC meet in Day 1 of Public Employee Relations Board Hearing
Oakland, CA – UAW 2865, the union that represents more than 19,000 academic workers at the University of California, faced off with University of California administrators in a hearing Tuesday, December 1, at California’s Public Employment Relations Board at 10am. At issue are what the union alleges were the university’s illegal actions to circumvent their collective bargaining relationship. After astronomical increases in the cost of living for academic workers and a lack of regulations in California’s housing market, the university failed to address the cost of living crisis for academic workers, and a wildcat strike at UC Santa Cruz ensued. In an attempt to resolve its dispute with wildcat strikers, the university met directly with workers and with a third party, bypassing the union and offering workers inadequate housing stipends that were outside the guarantee of the union contract.
“The university’s actions in response to the strike grossly violated the rights of their workers by disrespecting their democratically elected representative – the union,” said Kavitha Iyengar, President of UAW 2865. “As union members, we must hold the university accountable for the hostile actions they took against our union, and that means demonstrating that the university must bargain with the union over issues related to housing.”
The hearing represents a continuation of the fallout from the wildcat strike. Earlier this summer, after marathon negotiations and pressure from thousands of members of UAW 2865, the university agreed to rehire 54 workers who were fired in the spring for their role in the wildcat strike.
The current conflict is the latest struggle for better working conditions for academic workers, a fight that has become more urgent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Improving our living conditions has always been a struggle for ASEs, but with remote learning at UC, our living conditions are literally our working conditions, and they are our students’ learning conditions,” said Gaby Barrios, the union’s Sergeant-at-Arms. “We will keep fighting to hold UC accountable to its workers and students, and to win high quality benefits, but we can only do this by taking mass collective action. That’s how we got our co-workers their jobs back this summer and that’s how we’ll win a more equitable university.”
UAW 2865/5810 Union Organizer Training Program
UAW 2865 (the Union of TAs, Readers, and Tutors) and UAW 5810 (the Union of Postdocs and Academic Researchers) are hiring temporary paid organizers to build union membership and participation in preparation for upcoming contract negotiations with UC. These are four-week positions at 15-20 hours per week (20 hours preferred), starting on Tuesday, January 19th.
UAW 2865 and UAW 5810 are looking for applicants who are passionate about social justice, detail oriented, committed to public higher education, and willing to have conversations about the importance of union membership and participation with academic workers from diverse backgrounds. No prior union experience is necessary.
This hands-on training program will include regular coaching by experienced union organizers. Organizers will learn how to:
- Sign up new members in union orientations and answer questions about benefits, rights, and protections in the union contract
- Conduct one-to-one organizing conversations over zoom and the phone, with a focus on building union capacity for mass collective actions such as majority-participation strike votes and strikes
- Identify and develop new union leaders
- Utilize and maintain membership lists
In the midst of a global pandemic and threats of austerity, academic workers need to participate in their unions now more than ever. Apply to be a union organizer today! Send a resume and brief cover letter to organize@uaw2865.org. Applicants will be considered on a rolling basis, but no later than December 11, 2020. Organizers will receive a salary of $2,038.77 to $2,718.36 over four weeks depending on the number of hours per week.
International students, women, people of color, LGBTQIA are all encouraged to apply. People who participate in this program may be considered for future organizer employment opportunities where needed.