UC, teaching assistants make a deal, avert strike

Marisa O’Neil

University of California officials and student teachers averted a

strike late Tuesday night when they signed a tentative bargaining

agreement.

Neither side would discuss the terms of the successor collective

agreement until a union vote by the student teachers later this week.

The strike was set to start today, just days before final exams at UC

Irvine.

“We’re pleased to be able to resolve our differences at the

bargaining table and reach an agreement,” UC spokesman Paul Schwartz

said.

The former contract with the United Auto Workers Local 2865, which

represents the Academic Student Employees, expired Oct. 1, said the

union’s recording secretary, Beth Rayfield, a UC Irvine graduate

student. The graduate teaching assistants, readers and tutors have

been working without a contract since then.

Rayfield would not comment about the union’s demands, but they had

earlier alleged unfair labor practices by the university system. She

said she was “very excited” by the tentative agreement and expects a

“very strong turnout” for the vote.

More details should be released Monday, after the vote, Schwartz

and Rayfield said.

Union members originally staged a walkout on Oct. 3 but returned

to work after the demonstration. The university system has

contingency plans in place for such walkouts.

The union represents more than 11,000 people at University of

California campuses at Irvine, Berkeley, Davis, Los Angeles,

Riverside, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and San Diego.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].