On this edition of Your Call's Media Roundtable, we're discussing the academic workers strike across the 10-campus University of California system. This week, 48,000 workers went on strike to demand better wages, housing support, childcare, and transit benefits. This is the biggest academic strike in United States history.
Workers say, "UC’s failure to support a diverse workforce undermines the quality of research and education. Compensation that doesn’t match the cost of living and inequitable working conditions are pushing scholars out of academia. We do the majority of teaching and research at UC, yet UC is refusing to offer us a fair share of the record-setting grant and state funding that our labor brings in."
Guest:
Iris Kwok, climate and transportation reporter for Berkeleyside
Ally Markovich, education reporter for Berkeleyside
Web Resources:
Berkeleyside: Thousands of UC Berkeley employees go on strike for better wages, benefits
The New Republic: Don’t Laugh: The Striking U.C. Grad Students Have a Strong Case
The Sacramento Bee: UC strike: Here’s what’s at stake in America’s largest ever higher education labor action
Berkeleyside: Why hasn’t UC Berkeley built more student housing?
