LOS ANGELES — About 48,000 unionized academic workers across the University of California’s 10 campuses — who perform the majority of teaching and research at the state’s premier higher education system — walked off the job Monday morning, calling for better pay and benefits.
The systemwide strike includes teaching assistants, postdoctoral scholars, graduate student researchers, tutors and fellows, as well as workers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and it’s expected to cause major disruptions in classes and day-to-day campus life.
Union leaders say the strike, which began Monday morning, will be the largest at any academic institution in history. UCLA workers joined the picket line at 8 a.m. local time Monday at multiple locations across campus, as did groups at UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz and UC Merced.
