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CalMatters
California, explained
A dispatch from CalMatters higher education reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn: UC striking workers are facing a high-stakes game of Deal or No Deal.
Friday evening, the University of California and the negotiating team representing 36,000 striking academic workers approved a tentative agreement to end the five-week work stoppage — thought to be the largest-ever labor action by U.S. university employees — that disrupted classes, grading and research at the nation’s premier public university system.
But 15 of the 40 members of the bargaining team voted no on the tentative deal. They’re now leading a campaign to persuade the rank-and-file members, who are spread across two unions, to reject the proposed agreement in ratification votes today through Friday evening. All of the 12 bargaining members representing three campuses — UC Merced, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz — shot down the proposal.
On Sunday, more than 470 rank-and-file union members gathered on Zoom, with others watching on Twitch, for a meeting organized by some of the dissenting union negotiators. Those who spoke during the more than two-hour call seemed largely in favor of voting down the tentative deal, arguing that it didn’t do enough to support parents and student workers with disabilities and that the proposed wage increases would be almost entirely eaten up by inflation. At the two-hour mark, more than 185 people remained on the Zoom call.
The strike will continue during the ratification votes this week. The tentative deal will go through if approved by a simple majority of each union’s membership. A no vote would mean the strike continues indefinitely, potentially jeopardizing the start to winter classes across the UC.
A key yes vote? Rafael Jaime. The president of the larger of the two unions, which represents 19,000 workers, said in a text message Saturday afternoon he’ll “absolutely” vote for the deal.
The strike has already taken a significant toll on the UC, as graduate workers provide much of the teaching and research labor at the vaunted 10-campus system. Many undergraduates had their grades withheld and finals canceled or altered. Some graduate workers, fed up with the slow pace of negotiations, risked getting handcuffed and arrested through acts of civil disobedience targeting UC leaders.
Like anything academic, the devil’s in the details — and there are a lot of them. The tentative agreement for each union exceeds 100 pages and covers topics including increased wages and benefits, child care subsidies, transit passes and workplace protections.
For the dissenting members, the central points of contention include wages (the original ask was $54,000 base pay that dropped to $43,000 and again in this deal) and tying future wage increases to typical home rental prices (which got cut partway through negotiations).
Opponents of the deal note it doesn’t guarantee summer academic jobs for UAW 2865 members — though many graduate teachers receive summer appointments already — to push them past the previous demand of $43,000. Another critical analysis argues existing departmental pay bumps may disappear.
Woodall also faulted the plan for providing most of the raises in years two and three rather than upfront, given the huge impact high inflation has had on prices and rents.
Also core to the demands of Woodall and other dissenters was that the UC stop charging academic workers who weren’t originally California residents an additional non-resident tuition fee to earn their graduate degrees.
So how will the rank-and-file vote?
“I do expect a large majority of folks to vote yes,” said Geiser, who supports the deal.
But Woodall said there’s a “very live possibility” of a no vote among members. “People are really mad,” he said.
In other labor news:
Here’s a rapid-fire rundown of the latest news from the California Capitol:
Latest coverage of the 2022 general election in California
What typically allows California students to cross the bridge from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” is third grade. It’s a pivotal year for literacy, when students learn phonics — the practice of sounding out words — and develop the foundational reading skills they’ll need to understand their history, science and math textbooks. But during the pandemic, many third-grade students in full-time remote learning didn’t receive adequate phonics education, causing their reading ability to drop far below grade level. Now, fourth- and fifth-grade California teachers are struggling to bring them up to speed while simultaneously meeting state-mandated instruction standards that assume kids are reading at grade level, CalMatters’ Joe Hong reports. Many are finding, however, that it’s almost impossible to make up for lost time.
There’s never a shortage of California environmental news, so let’s dive right in:
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: It should be embarrassing to California officials that while their state deals with a seemingly intractable homelessness crisis, red states don’t have similar problems because they aren’t structurally averse to construction.
In 2024, California voters can make quality education a civil right: We are leading a coalition to change the state constitution by putting forward a ballot measure that would guarantee every child the fundamental right to a high-quality public education, write Antonio Villaraigosa, a former Los Angeles mayor and state lawmaker, and John Deasy, former superintendent of Los Angeles Unified and Stockton Unified school districts.
A San Diego migrant shelter has become integral at the border. Other cities take notice. // San Diego Union-Tribune
The big potential of Karen Bass’ homelessness agenda. // New Yorker
LA confirms end of COVID anti-eviction rules while other tenant protections remain in limbo. // Los Angeles Times
Stalled SF housing sites become eyesores, with tents, dumping and drug use. // San Francisco Chronicle
What’s next for San Francisco, the emptiest downtown in America? // New York Times
Rare victory for SF restaurant that sued insurers after losing millions in pandemic. // San Francisco Chronicle
As Tom Girardi skated, California State Bar went after Black attorneys. // Los Angeles Times
California opens investigation of Bay Area hospital after children’s deaths. // San Francisco Chronicle
California colleges’ rising health fees hit a nerve. // California Healthline
How bad is the nursing shortage in San Diego? Workers and hospitals disagree. // San Diego Union-Tribune
Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties suing McKinsey for its involvement to ‘turbocharge’ opioid sales. // California City News
Fentanyl on campus: Are California schools trained on Narcan, ready to use it? // Mercury News
California’s heat wave was a life-or-death situation. Then the state used a ‘tool of absolute last resort.’ // San Francisco Chronicle
Low on water, but high on celebrity, Las Virgenes seeks wastewater purification facility. // Los Angeles Times
Oil industry faces end of the road in California regardless of Newsom penalty on profits. // Politico
$11 for a head of California lettuce? Here’s what’s behind the shortage causing ‘outrageous’ prices. // Daily News
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