SANTA CRUZ—A graduate teaching assistant who worked at UC Santa Cruz until she was fired on Friday says that a protest for higher wages has grown since it started in December to include several more UC schools.
Brenda Arjona, who is in her third-year seeking a Ph.D. in anthropology – and who is a single parent with a young daughter – said Tuesday that the protest was launched in December by a group of teaching assistants claiming their wages are not enough to afford the high cost of living in Santa Cruz County.
Arjona says her $2,200 per month is barely enough for her to afford rent in the university’s family student housing, where she pays about $1,600.
“It started out with us saying ‘we need a cost of living adjustment, because we’re not able to focus on our studies, and those of us who have families or other responsibilities and get our degrees when we’re hungry,’” she said. “We’re going to food pantries every week to supplement our food because we don’t have enough money for food.”
The protest at the entrance of campus has frequently blocked traffic, and on Monday drew hundreds of student supporters.
TAs work about 20 hours per week, with duties that include teaching three small classes, holding office hours, answering emails and building one-on-one relationships that are often impossible in large lecture classes.
They also are responsible for grading.
“What we’re doing is fine-tuning the education,” Arjona said.
As part of the protest, about 200 teaching assistants began withholding undergraduate grades in December. While about 96 percent of the grades have since been submitted, the university fired 74 of the students after they refused to turn theirs in.
In a prepared statement, university officials called that decision “extremely disappointing.”
“…but we ultimately cannot retain graduate students as employees who will not fulfill their responsibilities,” the statement reads.
The statement said that the university has made “numerous good faith efforts” to offer solutions to the TAs, including new financial support and two temporary housing assistance programs for graduate students.
In its refusal to negotiate with the TAs, the university says that the strike is unsanctioned by the United Auto Workers 2865, the union that represents them.
“Labor law prohibits direct dealing between employees and their employer, which excludes employees’ lawfully recognized union,” the statement reads.
That union says it has filed unfair labor practice charges against the university, accusing it of bypassing the union and refusing to bargain for a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA).
“UC should sit down and bargain with the union for a COLA rather than terminating and denying future employment to our members who are fighting for fair wages for all academic student employees to meet the high cost of housing,” said union president Kavitha Iyengar.
The union said that university officials have repeatedly refused requests to come to the bargaining table.
Arjona said the protest largely has the support of the university’s undergraduate students. She said she honors all requests by her students to release their grades.
She also said that the protest has spread to three other UC schools, including UC Santa Barbara, where teaching assistants launched a full strike on Thursday. Those at UC Davis are withholding winter grades, she said.
She added that the fired TAs include pregnant women, parents and undocumented students, who now face deportation without a job. That, Arjona said, is an ironic twist in the ongoing saga.
“These are the marginalized, under-represented people,” she said. “The diverse population the university claims it wants. And yet we’re the ones saying, ‘hey we’re not making it,’ and they fired us. I think this has morphed into a bigger cause and a bigger issue.”
