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By Ryan Stuart rstuart@santacruzsentinel. com SANTA CRUZ The fight for affordable housing has been a frontlines battle in Santa Cruz and it spread to UC Santa Cruz as graduate students staged a strike to demand a livable wage. Graduate students who also serve as teacher as- sistants at UCSC began a grading strike in early De- cember 2019, in order to put pressure on the univer- sity to increase their wages. Graduate teacher assistants asked for a $1,412 increase to the $2,434 a month sal- ary they already hold in or- der to be able to afford the cost of living in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is located in one of the most expensive regions to live in through- out the U.S. Graduate stu- dent instructors reported spending anywhere from 50% and 70% of their wages on their rent. Film and me- dia doctoral student, Ryan Page, plans to finish his dissertation elsewhere be- cause he can't afford to live in Santa Cruz any longer he told the Sentinel in Febru- ary. As part of the strike, graduate assistants with- held nearly 20% of under- graduate grades for the Fall 2019 quarter. Final grades were due on Dec. 18 and the holdout began on Dec. 8. When demands weren't met, the refusal to submit final grades escalated to a teaching strike. Beginning Feb. 10, demonstrators con- gregated and blocked both entrances to campus, effec- tively shutting it off from outside traffic. The demonstrators were supported and joined by faculty and undergraduate students. "I'm here to support the students who are central to our university," Liter- ature Professor Vilashini Cooppan told the Sentinel in February. "When they can't support themselves, they cannot do their work as students, they cannot do their work as teachers and all of our community suf- fers." UCSC graduate students also garnered support from other students across the UC system. Smaller dem- onstrations reportedly popped up at UC Santa Barbara, UC-Berkeley and UCLA. However, the strike was not officially backed by the union that supports grad- uate students, the United Automobile Workers local 2865, making the move- ment a wildcat strike. Due to the nature of the assem- bly, an official count was difficult to determine, but an estimated 750 UCSC teaching assistants and graduate student instruc- tors participated. UAW 2865 could not le- gally back the students as it was currently still in a con- tract it had negotiated be- tween students in the uni- versity in 2018. The con- tract was set to expire in 2022 and didn't include a strike clause. Despite a lack of support from their union, demon- strators waged on. They even clashed with local law enforcement on the third day of the strike. At least 17 demonstra- tors were arrested for un- lawful assembly, obstruct- ing a public roadway and disobeying a lawful or- der. At least two students sustained injuries during the clash that they said was the result of excessive force from the police offi- cers present. "Officers repeatedly tried to de-escalate the situation and made clear that block- ing this major roadway had to stop or it would lead to arrest," Hernandez-Jason said in a statement that day. "Demonstrators locked arms, sat in the roadway, and refused to move back onto the university field." The arrests of the 17 stu- dents resulted in their 14- day bans from campus. Stu- dents who lived on campus were allowed to travel to their residence and din- ing halls but were not per- mitted access to any other campus facilities until Feb. 27. Demonstrations from UC graduate students gained national attention. The strike was reported by the New York Times and even drew support from Ver- mont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Twitter. Despite punitive mea- sures, demonstrators con- tinued to fight for their demands, even as punish- ment began to worsen. UC President Janet Napolitano threatened the termination of any graduate student in- structor if grades were not submitted. "Holding undergraduate grades hostage and refus- ing to carry out contracted teaching responsibilities is the wrong way to go," Na- politano said in her letter to faculty and students. "Therefore, participation in the wildcat strike will have consequences, up to and in- cluding the terminations of existing employment at the University." Graduate instructors were given an 11:59 p.m. deadline on Feb.21 to sub- mit final grades. However, threats of termination did not ease tensions. Instead, they poured gas on the flames and inspired dem- onstrators to show up in bigger numbers. "People are outraged, I'd say generally," Will Parrish, a history of consciousness graduate student said in February. "I think that a lot of people feel determined to continue and withstand these attempts to break the strike before we get what we need, which is a cost- of-living-adjustment." The deadline came and went, and further puni- tive action didn't come. On Feb. 28, punishment fi- nally fell as 74 UCSC gradu- ate instructors were fired or barred from leading spring courses. The university cited the abandonment of job responsibilities and in- subordination as its cause for action. "We are sick, we are tired — and now we are fired," Natalie Ng said. "But we won't give up. We won't stop striking until we get a COLA." COLA is the acronym for the cost-of-living adjust- ment they demanded from the university. Shortly after the termi- nation of the 74 graduate student instructors, the pandemic began. How- ever, demonstrators did not let it slow them down and they moved their ef- forts online. After another five months of continued dem- onstration, the strike came to an end. The university and UAW 2865 had both gone after each other for unfair labor practices. UAW 2865 agreed to drop its charges if the university reinstated the graduate stu- dents as instructors. On Aug. 7, UCSC rein- stated 41 of the graduate students who were fired due to their participation in the wildcat strike. However, the students did not receive the pay increase they origi- nally fought for. "In large part, this is a win for Santa Cruz workers — for workers in general," said Veronica Hamilton, the UAW 2865 unit chair and a UC graduate student that was fired. "Some of our most brilliant scholars are able to return and that's ex- cellent." The university stood be- hind the reasoning for its actions throughout the pro- cess. "There is no debate that those who were terminated violated their contract by withholding grades," it stated in August. "These terminations were not un- fair or unexpected as am- ple notice was provided and opportunities to sub- mit grades were offered right up to the deadline — a deadline long after grades were due." After being reinstated as graduate student instruc- tors, the UC students had to adjust and learn to teach in an online environment for the fall quarter, some- thing they did not have the opportunity to do with staff members throughout the spring quarter. "The course is going to be online, as most courses at UCSC and across the country are," Hamilton said. "So, I'll be learning how to teach online just like everybody else did in the spring quarter." HIGHER EDUCATION UCSC graduate instructors strike for livable wage PHOTOS BY DAN COYRO — SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL FILE UC Santa Cruz students march in the crosswalks in support of the grad students wildcat strike for better pay. UC Santa Cruz students supporting the wildcat grad student strike while away their time as they man the barricade blocking the main entrance to the campus. "I'm here to support the students who are central to our university. When they can't support themselves, they cannot do their work as students, they cannot do their work as teachers and all of our community suffers." — Vilashini Cooppan, UCSC literature professor EVERYMORNINGMY HUMANSHAVESOFF HISFACEFUR,HE'S FUNNYLIKETHAT. —TUCK adopted05-04-11 | | SANTACRUZSENTINEL.COM THURSDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2020 14 D

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