Striking UC graduate students picket human resources headquarters in Riverside
A Riverside office building that houses University of California human resources offices is being picketed and occupied by striking graduate student workers Friday, Dec. 2.
Seven employees are inside the building and prepared to stay there all day — past closing time, union officials said. Meanwhile, about 40 demonstrators are rallying outside with signs as sheriff’s deputies stand watch. The strike is now in its third week.
“We have made serious attempts to reach fair agreements with UC, yet after three weeks, Graduate Workers still have not received a proposal on wages that adequately addresses our economic precarity,” Heeba Hartit, a UC Riverside teaching assistant said in a union news release. “We are sending them a wake-up call in hopes that we can return to our research and teaching with dignified working conditions.”
The strike began Nov. 14, when academic workers across the UC system walked out amid calls for raises to keep up with climbing housing costs. Those on strike include teaching assistants, researchers and other university employees and are represented by the United Auto Workers.
A tentative deal was reached Tuesday, Nov. 29, between UC officials and postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers. But the workers said they would remain on strike in solidarity with the thousands of graduate student workers at all 10 of the university system’s campuses.
In addition to pay hikes of up to 29%, the agreement would provide increased family leave, childcare subsidies and lengthened appointments to ensure job security, according to a statement from United Auto Workers Local 5810. The pact must be ratified in a vote by members.
On the day the strike began, UC issued a statement, saying that campuses would be “prepared to ensure continuity of instruction and research in the event of a UAW strike.”
The Riverside building, known as the UCPath Center, is headquarters for the UC system’s Human Resources department. It’s located away from the UC Riverside campus on Meridian Parkway, off the 215 Freeway.
On Friday morning, those marching — picket signs in hand — chanted “What do we want?” The response was “fair contracts.”
Brigid Boll, a UCR graduate student and teaching assistant, said she was inside the building with six other striking employees.
They are prepared to stay inside the building, accessible only to badged employees, until their demands are met, Boll said.
“We’ve been on strike for three weeks now and we’ve seen no movement from the UC to come closer to our contract demands,” Boll said via cell phone. “We’re here for the long haul.”
“Finals start next week … we’re worried about our undergrads,” Boll said.
Boll, who works with 90 students per quarter, said her students support the union’s actions. She criticized UC leadership.
“They don’t care about UC workers, but they don’t seem to care about students that will be impacted by grades,” she said.
The students occupying the building have packed enough food for a few days, she said. They are making TikTok videos as they wait.
Leslie Fernandez, a strike captain and UCR student worker, said that nine months of negotiations have led to the strike.
A teaching fellow, Fernandez said he leads writing classes of 23 students and earns $24,000 over 9 months.
That covers rent, but Fernandez said he has no savings.
“I’ve had to learn how to be frugal as a graduate student.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.