UC Santa Cruz Fires 54 Striking Graduate Students

University of California, Santa Cruz has fired 54 graduate students who have been striking for higher wages by refusing  to turn in undergraduate students' grades.The students were dismissed Friday after failing to comply with a university-imposed deadline to submit the grades and were told they were being fired for insubordination and “abandonment of job responsibilities.” The students began striking in December to demand a wage increase to afford the area's high cost of living. The strike is a wildcat strike because it is not endorsed by the union that represents UC's graduate student employees, who are working under an existing contract.