“Rather than firing workers for standing up for fair wages to meet the high cost of housing they should sit down with the Union and bargain for a COLA and a fair resolution,” said Kavitha Iyengar, UAW 2865’s President.
Berkeley – UAW Local 2865, the union that represents more than 19,000 academic workers across the UC system, filed additional Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges today related to UC’s unlawful actions regarding the termination and further acts of discipline meted out to more than 54 workers at Santa Cruz. You can read the new charges here. These charges are in addition to those filed last week over the university’s bypassing of the Union and refusal to bargain for a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). You can read the original charges here.
In preparation for next steps, the Union’s Joint Council, which is composed of officers from all nine campuses, will convene its Bargaining Team this week to discuss calling for a strike authorization vote in response to UC’s Unfair Labor Practices.
“UC should sit down and bargain with the union for a COLA rather than terminating and denying future employment to our members who are fighting for fair wages for all academic student employees to meet the high cost of housing,” said Kavitha Iyengar, UAW Local 2865’s President. “We formally asked UC to come to the bargaining table and negotiate a cost of living adjustment months ago – and they continue to refuse. Instead they have consistently tried to do an end run around the union in both the bargaining and discipline process. The union’s elected Bargaining Team will convene this week to discuss our options, and that includes a possible strike authorization vote in response to UC’s repeated Unfair Labor Practices.”
“Unions representing academic employees are under attack at the national level,” Iyengar emphasized. “We expected more from the University of California where we have had a bargaining relationship for over 20 years than an attempt to deny the Union its rightful place at the table.”
The results of the Bargaining Team’s vote, and the details regarding if and when an unfair labor practice strike authorization vote will be held, will be made public later this week.
Follow us online and on twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.