Union Reform
Current leadership’s department-based approach to fighting appointment cuts and other austerity measures has meant that only well-organized, well-funded departments with supportive faculty/admin have been able to stave off appointment cuts, while grad workers in other departments are forced to shoulder the consequences of our inadequate contract. It is time for us to advance a statewide campaign in defense of our contract and against the UC’s union-busting tactics, in a united front with other unions across the UC.
Current leadership consistently limits member participation in a number of ways: by setting meeting agendas in private, keeping these agendas hidden from workers until the meeting, and by refusing to notify members about key decisions until after they’ve been made. They’ve dodged accountability for harmful decisions like the one consigning new workers to a lower pay rate, claiming that they voted on it without having the written agreement to share with affected workers. More recently, leadership bypassed existing endorsement processes to push through an endorsement of Zionist Senate candidate Katie Porter despite the passage of a BDS resolution and a membership-wide vote in support of Palestine and BDS just months before. We propose the following measures to democratize our union and empower ordinary members to take the lead:
Open Bargaining. No secret negotiations! All contract bargaining sessions must be open to all members, no exceptions. We oppose sidebars and backroom, off-the-record negotiations between UC Administration and the bargaining team, or pushing through hasty decisions over academic breaks.
Union Democracy. Mass membership meetings, not the bargaining team, should be regarded as the highest decision-making body during a strike. Any move at the bargaining table or decision on the conduct of a strike must be put up for discussion at membership meetings and approved by membership vote. Bargaining priorities and strategy should be determined by regular membership polling and open membership meetings, not private surveys.
Transparency and Accountability. Decision-making shouldn’t be hidden from union membership. All committee listservs, meeting minutes, financial reports, and resolutions should be open and easily accessible to the membership. Endorsements of political candidates must be decided by membership vote, and candidate forums should be held well in advance of an endorsement and advertised to the entire membership.
A Statewide Campaign. We can’t successfully oppose austerity measures department by department. We need a statewide campaign to mobilize our members and the rest of the labor movement against the UC’s attempts to subvert our contract.
Strategic Action. We will not win our ambitious demands by marching in circles. During our 2022 strike, RnFDU leaders organized to ensure that faculty withheld grades and worked with other unions to disrupt UC deliveries and construction projects. It is material disruptions to the UC’s finances and daily functioning—rather than appeals to the UC’s nonexistent goodwill—that win strikes.