Good morning! As you probably have heard, the lecturers and UC management have reached a tentative agreement and as a result UC-AFT has called off the strike. The union members have yet to ratify the contract, but it looks like this agreement is a huge victory for our lecturer colleagues, improving their job security, compensation, and working conditions.

All told, over 800 of you pledged to withhold your labor and not cross the picket line in solidarity with striking UC-AFT colleagues. In so doing, you took away one of UCOP’s favorite tactics of pitting Senate and non-Senate faculty against each other.

We have received messages from UC-AFT leadership that indicate how important Senate faculty solidarity has been to their struggle and victory. One emailed, “I want to thank you all so much for all the work you have put in over this LOOOOOOONG fight! We could not have done this without the immense senate support you have organized and I cannot tell you how many of the hundreds of organizing conversations I have been in where one of the pivotal factors in someone feeling confident to take a risky action has been hearing about how their senate colleagues have their backs. Solidarity forever, indeed.”

Another wrote: “When we fight together, we win together. More soon, but I want to say right away how proud I am to have won this victory hand in hand with you all.”

There is no question: when we unite to fight for the university we want—where workers are valued and we thus are able to pursue our teaching, research, and service mission—we all win.

Congratulations to UC-AFT! Their victory is an inspiration to workers across the UC. Solidarity forever!