41 Fired UCSC Graduate Students Eligible To Work Again

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Forty-one University of California, Santa Cruz graduate students fired for failing to submit fall grades while striking for higher pay are eligible to work again this school year, UC Santa Cruz said.

The students protested, and went on a grading, teaching and research strike while calling on the university to offer higher pay to students living in a tight housing market. After months of discussions, the university and union came to an agreement last month on major sticking points.

The so-called wildcat strike was not authorized by the students' union, United Auto Workers 2865.

Last week, union, UC and UC Santa Cruz representatives met with a mediator to negotiate an agreement to pave the way for fired graduate students to work again at the campus, the university said in a statement Tuesday.

"Our graduate students are not just the future of academic research and teaching, they are a vital part of its present," said Chancellor Cynthia Larive and Executive Vice Chancellor Lori Kletzer in the statement. "We remain resolute in our commitment to find new ways to support the success of our graduate students while they study at UC Santa Cruz."

The move was a win for union organizers, who said on Twitter that "our fight is not over," and spoke of a need to ensure student activism is protected on campus and receive a better wage to afford Santa Cruz's high cost of living.

UC Santa Cruz previously announced plans to give a $2,500 housing stipend to all full-time doctoral students in their first five years and Master of Fine Arts students in their first two years. Those plans will remain in effect, officials said.

Last month, the university said that the 75 graduate students who deleted student grades during the fall quarter will see student conduct code converted to employee letters of warning, officials said. UC Santa Cruz has also agreed to review its student conduct code.