UAW 2865 and SRU-UAW, the unions representing academic student employees (ASEs) and student researchers, respectively, ratified a new contract with the University of California on December 23, 2022, ending a six-week-long strike. The announcement comes after several bargaining sessions and a week-long ratification vote.

Following a voting period lasting from Monday, December 19 to Friday, December 23, 18,483 UAW 2865 members cast votes, with 11,386 (62%) voting yes and 7,097 (38%) voting no. 14,697 members of SRU-UAW also cast votes during this period, with 10,057 (68%) voting yes and 4,640 (32%) voting no. The contract went into effect immediately after ratification and will remain in place until May 31, 2025.

Compared to other UC campuses, UC San Diego union members approved of the contract at a relatively higher rate. Of UAW 2865’s votes cast at UCSD, 2,154 (73%) union members voted yes and 799 (27%) voted no. Of SRU-UAW’s votes cast at UCSD, 1,967 (82%) union members voted yes and 443 (18%) voted no. UCSD’s UAW 2865 members had the highest approval rating of any UC campus, and UCSD’s SRU-UAW union members had the second highest approval rating, followed only by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where 86% of union members voted yes.

Under the new contract, teaching assistants (TAs) working part-time at a 50% time appointment can expect a minimum nine-month salary of $34,00 by October 1, 2024. Due to the higher costs of living in these locations, TAs at UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco can expect a minimum salary of $36,500.

Graduate student researchers (GSRs) will be placed on a new, six-point salary scale, with the lowest pay grade at 50% time appointment, making a salary of $34,564.50.

Concerning more immediate changes, TAs and associate instructors will see a 7.5% increase in compensation within the 90 days following December 23. Within the same time frame, teaching fellows can expect an 8.9% increase, and hourly ASEs will receive a 5 to 8% increase. Most GSRs will accrue 10% increases in the first year, with 6.4% increases in the following years of the contract.

Both ASEs and GSRs will now be entitled to greater childcare reimbursements, more paid leave, increased fee remissions, and a host of other benefits.

Full details of the newly ratified contracts can be viewed on the University of California website.

In an interview with the New York Times, Governor Gavin Newsom said that “a state budget agreement this year that guaranteed at least five years of annual increases to U.C. funding will most likely pay for the added costs of the new contracts.” Newsom added that he does not expect a tuition increase to pay for the heightened costs.

The payment of workers who went on strike remains up in the air. Adam Caparco, a third-year postdoctoral researcher in Nanoengineering and the Financial Secretary of UAW 5810, shared that “for the most part, academic workers were paid during the strike.” However, around January 13, attestation forms were sent out to UC employees asking if they went on strike.

“It is still unclear how or when the university will choose to withhold pay,” Caparco said.

With the tax season approaching, this uncertainty is causing heightened levels of stress for many academic workers across the UC system.

“Personally, I would like to see the university make a clear decision soon,” Caparco stated.

Liam Winstead is an Assistant News Editor for The Triton.