The SCFA sent the following letter to the systemwide Labor Relation’s Executive Director at UCOP on January 17, 2020, supporting the negotiations between the administration and UAW for the graduate students.
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Peter Chester
Executive Director, Labor Relations
University of California Office of the President
Peter.Chester@ucop.edu
Systemwide Labor Relations
300 Lakeside Dr., 4th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612-3550
Dear Peter Chester,
We, the Santa Cruz Faculty Association (“SCFA”), write out of concern about the housing crisis facing our graduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Our graduate students have demonstrated the severity of the crisis in their efforts to focus the University’s attention on it. We fully support their desire to secure dignity in their living conditions, including a cost-of-living increase.
It goes without saying that the proximity of Silicon Valley and the unique economic dynamic there has driven the cost of living in Santa Cruz far beyond nearly any other public university community. This puts inordinate pressure on all our students. Our graduate students in particular are expected to be financially independent. A number of them even support families of their own. The strain is especially acute for first-generation students, as well as those from economically marginalized communities.
SCFA is encouraged that UAW Local 2865 has opened a dialogue with the University, asking to bargain over graduate-student compensation. We maintain our strong belief that a collectively bargained resolution centered on the role of students as employees would be best for the entire University community. In our view, it would only strengthen the bargaining relationship for the University to engage with Local 2865 or its designated representatives over measures to address the housing crisis, including a cost-of-living adjustment. We therefore urge the Office of the President to work with Local 2865 to reach a resolution. We also urge UCSC to give its support to the Office of the President for dialogue with Local 2865.
We further insist that the University not take any disciplinary action against UC Santa Cruz community members who have participated in, supported, or respected the graduate students’ labor action. Our graduate students are indispensable to our work and the University’s mission. SCFA reiterates that faculty members, like other UC employees, have a right to stand together with them.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.