A striking UC worker shares his story

His research aims to help doctors understand and possibly prevent strokes. He's skipping meals to get by. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Los Angeles Times] [Essential California Newsletter] December 8, 2022 [View in browser]( [Click to view images]( workers picket at UC San Diego on Nov. 14. (Giovanni Bernal Ramírez) By Ryan Fonseca Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California [newsletter](. It’s Thursday, Dec 8. I’m Ryan Fonseca. The largest labor strike in the history of U.S. higher education is now in its fourth week. Roughly 48,000 University of California graduate student workers and academic employees across the system’s 10 campuses are refusing to work [as multi]( labor negotiations continue](. Last week, postdoctoral scholars and academic researchers [reached a tentative agreement]( with the university system (they account for about a quarter of the striking workforce) but remain on the picket lines in solidarity with fellow workers. The strike has put a spotlight on wages and working conditions within the UC system as many student workers [struggle to find affordable housing]( and make ends meet. I wanted to get a sense of what these workers do, and why this strike is so important to them. Luckily, a newsletter reader and PhD student from UC San Diego put me in touch with one of his fellow striking union members, Anoop Praturu. Anoop is a third-year graduate student researcher (GSR for short) in biophysics at UC San Diego and is working on his doctorate. The 25-year-old grew up in San Jose and became fascinated with science at a young age. He studied astrophysics at UC Santa Barbara and got a job with a tech startup after graduating but soon decided he’d rather pursue a career in academia. “Something that caught my eye is that biophysics, as a field, is very young and very new, and so it felt like there’s a lot of potential for growth,” Anoop told me in a phone call from the picket line on his campus. So what does he work on within biophysics? His current focus is analyzing “genetic signatures of aging and Alzheimer’s disease,” along with the structure of blood vessels and how blood moves through our bodies. One main goal: “understanding how strokes happen in the body [and] the brain, and how they can be treated or mitigated.” That’s a hefty job. But Anoop says working conditions for UC’s student researchers can be “very, very harsh,” with unjustified firings and long hours without additional compensation. That was a big driver for him and other workers to organize and vote to form a union, which became [Student Researchers United-UAW](. “A lot of people ... were feeling very isolated,” he said, “and feeling like they had no recourse when they were being subjected to these horrible working conditions.” He reflected on the complex relationship between student workers and the university. They are UC employees but also pay tuition to study and work there, he said: We act as teachers, we act as mentors, we act as lab managers. ... We really are the life force that keeps this university running. The idea that we have to pay someone else for our labor to keep this place running for a lot of people is very insulting. There are also the high costs of living in San Diego. Anoop explained that for many GSRs, their employer is also their landlord, with graduate student housing available on the eastern edge of the [sprawling campus](. “Not only are they setting the price of our labor by how much they pay us,” he said, “they’re also setting the price of our rent.” Anoop told me he experienced homelessness last spring after his apartment flooded and he was forced to move out. “I went to look for new housing, and I could not afford to live anywhere near that university,” he said. That led to two months of living in his car or crashing on friends’ couches. To make matters worse, he got COVID-19 and said he’d been left with some lingering symptoms. He eventually found a place he could afford — barely — though it’s farther from campus, which makes his commute longer and more expensive. He added: Very regularly at the end of the month, I’m left with nothing or I’m dipping into my savings just to get by — just to put food on the table. I’m cutting corners everywhere. I’m skipping meals when I have to, making every sacrifice I can, and it’s still not enough most months to get by. Anoop notes that his experience is not uncommon among his peers. “I really wish that I was the only one who went through this,” he said. “But I just know way too many people who’ve had to sleep in their cars for me to be OK with these working conditions.” So, where do things stand now at UC San Diego? Anoop told me the negotiations have marked some milestones so far, including paid time off for GSRs and extended child-care leave. UC officials have proposed some wage increases, which Anoop said were “far higher than anything the UC had offered before we went on strike,” though many union members have expressed that it’s far from enough. On [UC’s website]( officials called their proposals “fair, reasonable, and responsive to the union’s priorities.” “UC continues to negotiate in good faith with the union and is committed to working collaboratively with the UAW to find solutions to outstanding issues,” officials wrote. “[We’re] trying to decide if this is something that we want to go forward with,” Anoop said, “or if we internally want to continue this strike and keep trying to build power and get a better contract.” He said the experience had inspired and given him “a lot of optimism for the future of the labor movement in the United States.” “When you have enough people together, when you know you’re in the majority, your power truly is unlimited,” he said. “It’s about effectively organizing that power and wielding it well.” And now, here’s what’s happening across California: Note: Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing. ADVERTISEMENT L.A. 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