Grad students across UC system strike & protest, demanding higher pay

Grad students in the UC system are unhappy.  They want more pay, they want low cost housing and they want to organize a union.  I agree with them.  Them should boycott classes, stop working, picket as much as they can.  Then  of course, they will not get classes to earn their degree, no money to pay for the crayons used to make the signs.  They should quit!

Then they should apply to private colleges.  A few will be hired—the rest will become unionized Uber drivers.  It is their choice—do they want an education or just protest till they are 40 years old?  Sad watching a mind go to waste.

“Graduate student workers across the University of California system are standing in support of their colleagues at the University of California-Santa Cruz after they withheld students’ fall 2019 semester grades, stole food from campus dining halls, and blocked campus roadways, resulting in 17 arrests.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is also the leading contender for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president recently expressed his support for the UCSC protesters, as Campus Reform reported.  “UCSC grad students are fighting to have their labor rights acknowledged. I strongly urge the president of the UC system to stop threatening them, especially immigrant students, for organizing,” Sanders wrote in a Feb. 19 tweet. 

“Cops off campus, COLA in our bank accounts”   

Cops off campus?  This proves the protests are political, not educational.  Lots of brain power, no common sense.

Photo courtesy kcxd, flickr

Grad students across UC system strike & protest, demanding higher pay

Jon Street, Campus Reform,  2/24/20 

More

  • Graduate student assistants across the University of California system are demanding pay increases.
  • The protests are in solidarity with graduate students at UCSC who withheld students’ grades while demanding more pay.

Graduate student workers across the University of California system are standing in support of their colleagues at the University of California-Santa Cruz after they withheld students’ fall 2019 semester grades, stole food from campus dining halls, and blocked campus roadways, resulting in 17 arrests.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is also the leading contender for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president recently expressed his support for the UCSC protesters, as Campus Reform reported.  “UCSC grad students are fighting to have their labor rights acknowledged. I strongly urge the president of the UC system to stop threatening them, especially immigrant students, for organizing,” Sanders wrote in a Feb. 19 tweet. 

“Cops off campus, COLA in our bank accounts”   

The protesters were originally given a Feb. 21 deadline to submit grades, or face termination. 

“We are giving these students one final opportunity to fulfill their teaching responsibilities and show that they can fulfill future responsibilities. Those who do not submit full grade information by February 21 will not receive spring quarter appointments or will be dismissed from their spring quarter appointments,” the school said in a Feb. 14 statement. 

On Feb. 21, UC System President Janet Napolitano issued a statement agreeing to sit down with the protesters for a “dialogue.” 

“In the interest of pursuing a productive, meaningful dialogue about our shared concerns, I have invited leaders of the UC Graduate and Professional Council to join me for a meeting to discuss issues of importance and impact to graduate students, including cost of living, housing, mental health, training and mentoring, career placement, and childcare, among others,” Napolitano said. 

It’s unclear whether all missing grades were submitted as a result of Napolitano’s statement, or are still being held. The University of California did not respond to Campus Reform‘s inquiry in time for publication. 

The radical left will stop at nothing to intimidate conservative students on college campuses. You can help expose them. Find out more »

But the UCSC graduate students have now gained not only the support of Sanders but also of graduate students across the UC System. 

Graduate students at UCLA, UC-Davis, UC-Berkeley, UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Merced, and UC-Irvine all joined in support of the protesters at UC-Santa Cruz or began protests of their own, also demanding cost of living adjustments. 

At UCSB, protesters staged a sit-in inside the chancellor’s office. 

About Stephen Frank

Stephen Frank is the publisher and editor of California Political News and Views. He speaks all over California and appears as a guest on several radio shows each week. He has also served as a guest host on radio talk shows. He is a fulltime political consultant.

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