December 10th – COLA Email Response Setting Open Meeting in Humanities

December 10, 2019

Quentin Williams

Acting Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies,

Division of Graduate Studies

Kerr Hall, Santa Cruz, CA 95064

Dear Acting Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Williams, Chancellor Larive, and EVC Kletizer,

We understand that Kerr Hall has been empty since undocumented students brought their demands last Tuesday. This email is therefore to inform you that we are meeting with you in Humanities Bld 1, Room 210 at 3pm.

Any decision to end the strike is ultimately in the hands of all graduate students, who will vote on whatever offer is made. We encourage graduate students to attend a rally at the humanities courtyard at 3:00 pm.

Graduate Student Association

UAW 2865 – Santa Cruz

Veronica Hamilton, Unit Chair UAW 2865 Santa Cruz & Internal Co-Vice President of Shared Governance, GSA

Yulia Gilichinskaya, Co-President, GSA

Tony Boardman, Co-President, GSA

Sarah Mason, Internal Co-Vice President of Shared Governance, GSA

Jane Komori, Co-Secretary, GSA

Jack Davies, Co-Secretary, GSA

Sarah Mason, Internal Co-Vice President of Shared Governance, GSA

Natalie Ng, Co-Solidarity Officer, GSA

Clara Qin, Co-Solidarity Officer, GSA

Rowan Powell, Co-Treasurer, GSA

Isaac Karth, Co-Treasurer, GSA

Rebecca Ora, External Vice President, GSA

Abby Walsh, Chair, GSA

Mission

We are TAs, GSIs, Tutors, Readers, Student Researchers, Fellows, Postdocs, and Academic Researchers at UCSC. We are represented by our union, UAW 4811 (Formerly UAW 2865 and UAW 5810). In 2019/2020, workers at UCSC withheld labor for a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), and in 2022, our statewide union struck for 6 weeks over a COLA, arguing for a 54k base wage for all academic workers with the goal of raising the living conditions of academic workers across the state. Now, we are on strike for Divestment, Disclosure, Transitional funding for researchers, & Amnesty for all protestors.