Senate Faculty Pledge to Stand in Solidarity with UC Lecturers

The Faculty Associations across UC, who together make up the Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA), stand in solidarity with our lecturer colleagues who currently are in negotiations with UCOP for a new contract. For the first time in over 20 years, and after 2 years of negotiations, lecturers have voted with an overwhelming majority of 96% to authorize a strike. To learn how Senate faculty can stand in solidarity with them, see our letter to UC Senate Faculty, below, with its link to a pledge of solidarity with lecturer colleagues.

Dear UC Senate Faculty Colleagues,

We are UC Senate faculty and members of the Council of University of California Faculty Associations (CUCFA) writing to ask you to sign a Pledge of Solidarity with Our Lecturer Colleagues throughout the UC system as they negotiate a new contract.

The University of California is dependent on the 6,800 lecturers it employs: they teach one-third of undergraduate hours across the system, and on some campuses more than half. Three out of four lecturers work on short-term contracts with no job stability, no fair and consistent evaluation process, and no contractual assurance that they’ll be considered for renewal. Their median annual salary is $19,067, even as UC campuses are located in regions with some of the highest costs of living in the country. Most departments would not be able to mount their curricula without the skilled labor of these dedicated educators.

The quality of undergraduate education at the University of California depends upon ALL of its faculty, lecturers included. Our lecturer colleagues’ precarious working conditions are our students’ learning conditions.

We support the lecturers’ fight to strengthen job stability, improve wages and benefits, and ensure fair compensation and workload that reflects their training, experience, and contributions to the UC. Stabilizing the teaching workforce would not only be fair and just, it also would benefit UC students who deserve this investment in high-quality education. (For more information, see UC-AFT’s campaign website.)

For the first time in over 20 years, and after 2 years of negotiations, our lecturer colleagues, represented by UC-AFT, have voted with an overwhelming majority of 96% to authorize a strike. As Senate faculty, we stand in solidarity with them.

The Pledge linked to below lays out a number of actions you can take, including honoring the lecturers’ picket line should they go out on strike. The signatories to this letter are not calling on Senate faculty to vote to strike. Rather, we want to inform you that we have a free speech and HEERA-protected right to honor our lecturer colleagues’ picket line (see FAQ).

Please click HERE to read and sign the pledge, checking the boxes indicating how you will stand in solidarity.

For more information, click on this FAQ, contact CUCFA or your Faculty Association, and check out UC-AFT’s campaign website.

With appreciation and in solidarity,

CUCFA Executive Board

Update: On Monday, September 20, CUCFA held a virtual town hall with lecturer leaders to answer any questions faculty had about a possible strike this quarter. A video of that meeting is available at: https://youtu.be/ESrHp51t4io.

Note: We are grateful for all the comments people are posting here, but doing so is not the same as filling out the official pledge form. Please do follow up by filling out the official pledge form.