On Thursday, February 19, the democratically-elected members of the UC-AFT Unit 18 bargaining team began their collective bargaining negotiations with representatives of the UC Office of the President (UCOP) at the UC Berkeley campus. At the meeting, they presented their initial list of bargaining priorities, including more equitable protections for academic freedom, new protections around privacy and the use of technology in our classrooms, and enhanced job security protections that will bring an end to our precarity. More details on those bargaining priorities are available at WeTeachUC.org.
As the negotiations began, UC-AFT members across the state held rallies to put their collective power behind these bargaining demands. Many celebrated their solidarity by displaying banners showing the signatures of over 1200 UC-AFT members who have pledged to fight for their colleagues and for public higher education. On several campuses, they were joined by members of the press, who have written features on our fight for a fair contract. These include:
“Lecturers are Bargaining for a New Contract,” Santa Cruz Lookout – read it here.
“UC and UC-AFT negotiations tentatively set to being in March,” Daily Bruin (UCLA) – read it here.
“UC-AFT begins prebargaining with rally and bake sale,” Daily Californian (UCB) – read it here.
