Posts tagged University of California
Changing institutional culture from the inside out: why more and more US museum workers are forming unions
May 19, 2023 // Organising efforts at Storm King, the PMA, the Hispanic Society and elsewhere reflect a trend that has been growing in the US art and heritage sector over the course of the past five years and accelerated with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Workers at more than 20 institutions have formed a union since 2020 or are actively in negotiations for their first contract, including the Jewish Museum and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and Mass Moca in Massachusetts. In March, after 16 months of negotiations, workers at the Whitney Museum of American Art, who had formed a union in spring 2021, ratified their first contract. State of the unions: why US museum workers are mobilising against their employers Tom Seymour The issues prompting workers to form unions across the country and across a broad range of industry sectors are remarkably consistent: wages, benefits and working conditions. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of wage and salary workers who belonged to a union in 2022 was 14.3 million, a 1.9% increase on 2021.
The president of the United Auto Workers union has been ousted in an election
March 27, 2023 // A court-appointed monitor declared challenger Shawn Fain the winner over incumbent Ray Curry. Fain's slate of candidates won control of the big union, as workers rejected most incumbents in the wake of a bribery and embezzlement scandal It was the 372,000-member union's first direct election of its 14-member International Executive Board, which came in the wake of the wide-ranging scandal that landed two former presidents in prison. The vote count had been going on since March 1, and the outcome was uncertain going into Saturday because of challenges against several hundred ballots.
Workers exert leverage in tight labor market: Strikes doubled in 2022
February 23, 2023 // About 224,000 total people walked off the job in 424 strikes, up from 279 strikes in 2021. Most of them were demanding better pay and healthcare. Fast food workers with the "Fight for $15" campaign and Starbucks baristas organized over 100 strikes. In one of the most memorable, a number of Starbucks workers at stores across the country refused to man the espresso machines on "Red Cup Day" — the start of the profitable holiday drink season for the company. But education workers put the biggest stamp on labor action. About 60% of the workers striking in 2022 were educators, meaning the spotlight continues to be on frontline sectors after healthcare workers drove most of the action 2021, during the height of the pandemic.
Unions challenge U-C plan to dock pay of workers who went on strike
February 9, 2023 // Ryan King, a spokesperson for The University of California Office of the President, wrote in an email Friday to CalMatters that UC "may not legally pay our employees or gift them funds if they did not provide a service to the institution." He cited state and federal rules that forbid the university from paying employees who didn't work.
‘It’s about damn time’: College workers organize amid nationwide labor unrest
February 8, 2023 // A historic strike at the University of California kicked things off in November. And the six-week standoff among 48,000 campus workers, a broader surge in labor strikes across industries, a depleted pandemic workforce and a friendlier atmosphere in Washington has culminated in a wave of uprisings.+
Temple University graduate workers strike over ‘living wage’
February 6, 2023 // Following the lead of University of California graduate workers, teaching assistants and research assistants at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania went on strike Tuesday morning. The Temple University Graduate Student Association (TUGSA) announced on Twitter, “After bargaining for over a year, Temple still refuses to meet our demands of a living wage, dependent healthcare, longer leave, and better working conditions. We’re ready to bargain: is admin?”
To afford historic labor contract, UC considers cutting TAs, graduate student admissions
February 1, 2023 // The full financial cost of the labor settlements between UC and 48,000 academic workers who help power the vaunted teaching and research engine are still being tallied. But preliminary estimates have dealt a “financial shock to the system,” said Rosemarie Rae, UC Berkeley chief financial officer. The UC Office of the President estimates that the increased costs for salary, benefits and tuition across all 10 campuses will be between $500 million and $570 million over the life of the contracts. Individual campuses have come up with their own calculations: At UC Santa Barbara, for instance, the Academic Senate chair estimated that the cost of pay hikes alone could spiral to more than $53 million over three years.
Arizona university workers demand thriving wage
January 27, 2023 // Workers at the University of Arizona (UA) are demanding a large pay raise, to the tune of $25 an hour, by 2025. The United Campus Workers of Arizona (UCW), which also represents workers at Arizona State University (ASU), is calling for people to sign their petition to university administrators to implement a “dignified wage for ALL workers.” The UCW petition clamored for the payment of “a thriving wage, not a poverty wage” for workers due to rising inflation, which led to “significant increases in housing costs, gas, and food expenses.” The petition also claimed that around 4,000 employees “are not making enough to survive in our communities” because 43% of UA workers make less than $25 an hour. Currently, the UA petition has gathered 579 signatures out of its goal of 800 signatures.
Syracuse University grad students want to unionize to improve wages, working conditions
January 20, 2023 // SU plans to increase minimum stipends from $16,980 to $20,000 for master’s student workers and from $16,980 to $22,000 for doctoral students. The pay raises will begin in the 2023-2024 academic year. SU said it is also improving health insurance and child care subsidies for graduate student workers. SEIU already represents about 900 SU workers including custodians, housekeepers, maintenance and good service workers and library technicians.