SAN FRANCISCO -- University of California graduate teaching assistants returned to classes Monday to complete the fall term after system officials agreed to discuss their demand to unionize.
A 45-day "cooling-off period," announced Sunday night, came just in time for finals at all eight undergraduate campuses. Talks were to begin within 10 days.Teaching assistants walked off the job last week, the fourth such strike in six years and the first involving all the general admissions campuses -- Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Diego, Davis, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Riverside and Santa Cruz. More than half of the 9,000 teaching assistants, readers and tutors authorized the strike.
At issue is whether the students can unionize for collective bargaining, a right they have been trying to win for 15 years. University system officials have maintained that teaching assistants, readers and tutors cannot unionize because they are students, not employees.
"While we continue to believe that teaching assistants are not eligible for collective bargaining, we welcome the opportunity to sit down and have an open exchange of ideas about issues related to the strike," system President Richard Atkinson said in a statement.