Student Researchers and Academic Workers Conclude Second Week of Strike

Academic workers with the UAW 2865, UAW 5810, and SRU-UAW unions concluded their second week of striking last Wednesday, November 23.

Picket lines caused disruptions across the UC San Diego campus as picketers chanted and blocked intersections. In the past two weeks of the strike, many discussion sections and some lectures have been canceled as a result of the strike, causing uncertainty for undergraduate students as final exams approach. Research has largely halted across the UC system.

Picketers held a series of rallies throughout last week as bargaining teams negotiated with the University of California on fair contracts.

Following the filing of two unfair labor practice charges regarding intimidation by UCSD toward UAW bargaining unit members, picketers held an anti-intimidation rally outside the Medical Teaching Facility on Monday, November 21.

Kay Tye, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and Wylie Vale professor at the Salk Institute, shared her thoughts as a faculty member on intimidation in academia.

“We have a major problem: we have a crisis in academia. Academic culture is toxic,” Tye stated.

Speaking to fellow faculty, Tye added, “We need to treat our trainees better. We need to treat our trainees with respect. Pay their fair wages!”

Following Tye’s speech, Akshat Singhal, a fourth-year Computer Science PhD student, spoke about intimidation toward international workers.

“Earlier today, we all received an email sent from the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor intimidating international workers,” Singhal stated in reference to this email.

Rallygoers chanted “Shame!” in response to the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor’s email.

“The concern and fear everyone on [an] international visa is experiencing is very real,” Singhal added. Singhal concluded by stating that all picketers stand with those on international visas.

The rally concluded with a collective singing of “We Will Rock You” by Queen and “Solidarity Forever” by Ralph Chaplin.

On Tuesday, November 22, members of the bargaining teams from the striking UAW unions held a Q&A discussion on the steps of Price Center near the Town Square.

Many students expressed concern about UAW 2865’s decision to drop rent-aligned cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) from their demands. Representatives from the UAW unions stated that the UC system was not willing to negotiate and adopt any form of COLA.

The picketing concluded on November 23 with a “strikesgiving” lunch on the Sixth College East Lawn.

Liam Winstead is an Assistant News Editor for The Triton.