Student Researchers United

The joint-council, a body of elected officers from the United Auto Workers 2865, or UAW 2865 union, voted unanimously to merge with the Student Researchers United, or SRU union, at their meeting on Sunday. 

The bargaining teams for Student Researchers United and academic student employees voted in favor of voluntary mediation with the UC system today, according to a UAW bargaining update.

Tensions simmered following the University of California’s “final” offer on wages to UAW 2865 and SRU’s bargaining teams last Friday. 

Following a week of voting, four bargaining units of UAW announced a historic authorization to strike. This Daily Californian tool follows all four contract negotiations as tentative agreements are reached between the UC system and the academic worker unions.

The university agreed Wednesday to recognize Student Researchers United, or SRU, a union representing 17,000 student researchers employed by the UC system.

The ASUC Senate passed a resolution against caste-based discrimination and heard updates from officials at their regular meeting Wednesday. 

Members of Student Researchers United rallied in front of University House Wednesday, urging the UC system to recognize their petition to unionize.

Graduate student researchers rallied in front of the Oakland headquarters of the California Public Employee Relations Board, or PERB, on Monday morning to begin the process of certifying a new student worker union. 

Student researchers at the UC system work with much more dangerous chemicals and equipment on a daily basis, but it seems that the UC system would rather exploit loopholes in labor law than implement robust safety and treatment policies.