TAs begin strike authorization vote

By Cory Golden

University of California teaching assistants, readers and graduate student instructors began voting Monday on whether to authorize a strike.

The strike vote by United Auto Workers Local 2865, which represents about 13,000 workers systemwide, will continue until Wednesday.

The decision to hold the election was prompted by what the union says is the deteriorating quality of education on the campuses and a lack of transparency on the part of the administration, as well as how the administration has handled bargaining with other unions.

The student workers point to the administration’s treatment of members American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, UC’s largest union, which represents food service, custodial and hospital care workers. It announced last week that 96 percent of its members voted to authorize an unfair labor practices strike.

That vote followed a formal complaint from the state Public Employment Relations Board documenting instances of threats and coercion against workers before and during a strike by patient care and service workers in May.

AFSCME has not yet announced when it will strike. It must give 10 days notice before holding a strike.

In other UC labor news, the administration and the 12,000-member University Professional and Technical Employees Local 9119 have agreed to continue meeting. The union has agreed not to strike, and UC has said it will not impose its final offer. The two sides have been bargaining since October 2011.

[Source]: The Davis Enterprise