October 25, 2021
Update: UC, SRU-UAW, and PERB met on Friday. The purpose of the meeting was to bring the parties together to try and “settle” the question of whether UC will recognize SRU-UAW as the union chosen by a supermajority of Student Researchers, including fellows and trainees. The meeting did not result in recognition of SRU-UAW, but another meeting is scheduled for Nov. 9 to continue discussions.
UC’s intransigence on this issue is revealed by their midnight filing before the meeting, doubling down on their argument that fellows and trainees are not employees, and so according to UC do not even have the right to unionize. UC claims, “The fellowships that certain students receive are akin to gifts from the University to support students during their studies. There are no strings attached; no required reporting; and no required work.”
The implication that trainees and fellows don’t perform valuable labor for the university is insulting, and stands in the face of the fact that trainees and fellows work side by side with GSRs, doing the same work, and supervised by the same PIs. You can read the entirety of UC’s absurd arguments here.
Last week, SRs concluded a vote in which over 5,000 of us demanded that UC stop attempting to exclude fellows and trainees and recognize SRU-UAW, so we can get to the bargaining table for a fair contract. RSVP to the rally at your campus this Thursday at noon to show UC SRs will not accept rights for some of us but not for others.
In solidarity,
Jess Banks
Department of Math, UC Berkeley
P.S. – Support for SRU-UAW from elected officials continues to grow. Last week, State Senator Cortese (D- San Jose) wrote a letter to President Drake in support of Student Researchers’ demand for union recognition.