Teaching Assistants Vote to Unionize at U. of Cal. at Berkeley
By DENISE K. MAGNER
Teaching assistants at the University of California at Berkeley have overwhelmingly voted to unionize, according to election results released Thursday by a state labor board.
The California Public Employment Relations Board announced that 833 graduate-student employees had voted in favor of a union and 293 against. Nearly 71 per cent of the 1,590 eligible employees turned out to vote.
"We are absolutely thrilled," said Liz Schirmer, a union activist and a doctoral student in English at Berkeley. "This is a phenomenal turnout. It is a fitting and exciting end to a 16-year struggle for recognition. We think it will make us really strong when we come to the bargaining table and will help us negotiate our new contract well and quickly, which is our new goal."
The victory by the Association of Graduate Student Employees, an affiliate of the United Auto Workers, followed a successful election last month by a union affiliate at the university's Los Angeles campus. (See a story from The Chronicle, April 2.)
In March, the university reversed its long-held position against the unionization of graduate-student employees, announcing that it would bargain with graduate students collectively if their unions won elections. Eight campuses have unions seeking recognition. Six campuses have yet to vote; the last of those elections is to be held at the Santa Barbara campus next month. Debra Harrington, manager of labor relations on the Berkeley campus, said the administration was pleased by the high turnout and not at all surprised by the outcome.
Contract negotiations will begin between the bargaining unit and the administration of each campus, with some guidance from the university-system office. "We will respect the outcome of the election and move forward," said Brad Hayward, a spokesman for the University of California system. "However, some decisions that affect the experiences of teaching assistants have to do with education issues, not employment issues. We intend to retain discretion over educational decision making."