The Demonstration Teachers at the UCLA Lab School, represented by UC-AFT, are on strike on January 25 and 26 because of unfair labor practices. Management refuses to bargain over the full scope of negotiable topics, including class size, instructional supports (including TAs, Instructional Assistants, and classroom materials budgets), planning time, reassignment, layoff, reappointment process, merit reviews, personal leave days, compensation for public engagement, and calendar. UCLA management and Lab School administration are wrongly stating that the strike is illegal.
To support the striking Lab School teachers, please write to UCLA administrators (sample letter here), sign this petition, and sign up here to receive updated information.
Beth Ribet, Lecturer in Gender Studies and Disability Studies, writes in The Daily Bruin:
“[A]s the strike progressed through the end of fall quarter, we witnessed no institutional guidance, acknowledgment or adaptations for faculty or students with disabilities intended to manage the significant impact of the strike on educational access for UCLA’s disability communities.
It would not be hard to infer that disability equity, access and inclusion have been forgotten – again – by the institution.
We were saddened to learn that the only disability-related addition to the new contract the UC did offer to our graduate student teaching assistants was in the form of access to “interim accommodations” while negotiating student accommodation requests. Absent a strong commitment to ensure that accommodations actually conform to the needs of graduate student workers, this imagined gain is essentially empty.”
“UC graduate student workers ratify labor agreement, end historic strike with big wage gains.” Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, December 23, 2022. [pdf]
“Vote by UC graduate student workers to ratify labor agreement exposed a sharp divide among campuses.” Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times, December 24, 2022. [pdf]
“Grad student unions strike controversial deal with University of California.” Katie Langin, Science, December 19, 2022. [pdf]
Roughly 100 faculty and staff attended the “Regents Romp” rally on December 14 outside the Luskin Conference Center. The 10am public meeting of the UC regents that had been scheduled was disrupted by strikers and was delayed until after 1pm, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Randall Kuhn, demographer at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, counted 80 to 90 faculty and staff, and given the people he did not see, estimated 100 faculty and staff attended, including folks from UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. The rally was covered by KTLA television, CBS News Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Times.
The UC Regents have a previously scheduled regular meeting at the Luskin Conference Center at UCLA on Wednesday, December 14. The striking academic workers have organized a rally outside the Luskin Conference Center to start at 9:30am on that day. At this critical moment, showing up to this action is the single most important action that faculty and staff can take before the end of the year to show our support. We have set a goal of 100 UCLA faculty to attend. We believe that this goal is achievable. Please come and reach out to your colleagues, even if they have not been previously active. Everyone is welcome to this historic event! Also, please reach out to your friends at nearby UC campuses including UC Riverside, UC Irvine, and UC San Diego and ask them to come! Please sign in here so we can organize folks beforehand (we will meet on campus at a nearby location and then march in together). Please come out and support our students in their fight for livable wages and for a UC that works for everyone!
On the Friday of finals week, we came as always to show our support! We missed Toast the Dog, who was a little tired from yesterday so decided to stay home.
We listened to speeches and karaoke at the Inverted Fountain and started to “turn in our grades” of the University of California’s performance during the strike. Our buttons can now be seen all over campus!
Here are some recent news articles about the strike and faculty support!
Today we joined strikers at Bunche Hall to help support strikers, including an event organized by undergraduate students. We are also distributing buttons designed by Veronica Paredes and Anna Markowitz, so come get one!
