I've had a lot of friends who've worked as graduate assistants on the way to becoming professors,

and they'll all tell you the same thing.

The hours for their work are long.

It's hard and it pays nothing.

It's sadly been a part of graduate life for a long time,

but at University of California campuses across the state,

those workers are saying enough.

Union makes us strong.

We are out here fighting for better working conditions.

We are overworked and underpaid and we are fed up.

And so today we strike.

Last week, some of the workers on strike reached a tentative deal that's got

to elevate their pay to among the highest nation, but more than 35,000 people at UCs are still

refusing to work. This stoppage has canceled classes, shuttered labs, and caused other academic disruptions,

and it's all gone down as finals for students are just days away.

UC administrators are claiming that there could be long-lasting and unintended consequences

if a widespread pay hike does go through, but those on strikes say this is the only way to change

the well-documented shortcomings when it comes to grad student life.

We're always thinking about how little money we have and how constrained we are financially,

and I think it would give us some peace of mind and freedom to sort of focus on our work and live

with some dignity. I'm Gustavo Ariano. You're listening to The Times, essential news from the LA Times.

It's Wednesday, December 7, 2022.

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