Abhimanyu, Political Science PhD Student, UC Irvine
Abhimanyu (Center) pictured with colleagues.
"Non-Resident Supplementary Tuition Fees are a discriminatory mechanism. They suppress the equitable recruitment and retention of international students who are seeking admission to and currently enrolled in grad programs within the UC system. In this powerful moment of collective organizing, I hope my colleagues remain in solidarity with us by voting no [on the current contract, which does not include provisions for NSRT fee remission] and continue to strike to secure a fair contract that secures protections for everyone; international students, disabled students, parents, and BIPOC students."
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"It has been a neverending struggle to balance having children while working at the UC. Not only are my children viewed as a liability by my department, PI, and the university, but there is no assistance programs or healthcare coverage under the current contract. My wife and daughter have needed critical medical and dental care multiple times during my time at the UC. Not only has the university been uncaring in its response but they have actively shifted, at least in my experience, to avoid admitting parents at flagship campuses like Berkeley. My family has suffered greatly due to the university's focus on cutting labor costs and when presented with a chance to reverse their wrongs, they have doubled down. I have had to pay large sums out of pocket for childcare and having to watch our children has limited the employment opportunities of my wife and I due to the UC's heartless policies. I will be forced to leave my graduate program if I cannot get health insurance for my family."
"I will run out of county cash aid eligibility halfway during my program. At that point, I will be solely responsible for childcare costs for 3 kids under 10. Student researchers/fellows currently do not get childcare reimbursements. The current proposal would only cover my costs for 3 months, leaving me financially responsible for 6 months of after-school care and 3 months of full-time care in the summer. I may have to choose to not continue with my program and lose the time and resources that I have invested and that others have invested, including the university.
As a single mom to 4, I qualify for Cash Aid and Food Stamps under the CalWorks program. In my first semester this fall, I pursued the advanced payment available for CalWorks students of $500 towards books/supplies. I went through the correct channels and only met resistance, because no one knew what I was talking about when I sought out an official UC signature for my CalWorks form to qualify for the payment. The registrar didn't feel comfortable signing off on my list of required books, even with syllabus documentation. The financial aid counselor didn't feel comfortable signing off because no one had experience with CalWorks and the university does not have a CalWorks liaison. If I hadn't been a college admin for 10 years elsewhere, I would have given up the first three times.
Very few in my position have the time to escalate through multiple levels. Even fewer have the institutional knowledge to affirm that they have a right to this assistance (in the form of a signature) from the university. I accepted my financial aid package and admissions offer in the spring prior to my first semester. My FAFSA expected family contribution (EFC) was no longer accurate because my status had changed from fully employed spouse to unemployed single mom. I filed a special circumstances appeal in June, so that my EFC could be adjusted from $10,000 down to $0. This wasn't just important to my campus aid package; my EFC was being used to determine the size of an outside scholarship award. I would either get the lowest $500 award or the maximum $5,000 award. I followed up with the financial aid office every week. The first month, I received the response that my appeal was in queue. The second month, I was referred back to the FAFSA to update my income information. I had to dig through the FAFSA website for evidence that the appropriate body to review my change in income is the school itself, not the federal government. The third month, I was notified that the financial aid office does not review appeals for graduate students.
Since we have 5 yr funding packages, there had supposedly never been an appeal filed before. My guess is that anyone who did file an appeal accepted their rejection at face value and gave up. Thanks to my institutional knowledge, I asserted my rights to an appeal and review because of my changed circumstances. By October, I was calling the financial aid director daily since I was on the cusp of losing the chance to be awarded the $5,000 outside scholarship. I got lucky one day and the person I spoke with took me seriously and pushed the review. My EFC was updated that same day.
[During the strike] I loved the idea that we were building community. I liked meeting others in my department. I loved the idea that we would fight for a livable wage. I'm a former foster youth, formerly homeless, first-gen student with no family support. I decided to go to graduate school because I wanted to do research that was community-oriented, which was my first mistake. Since then I've been in such financial precarity that I can't survive like this. I'm lucky to have a supportive partner; how many of us stay in abusive relationships because we can't afford to move or live alone? I know one girl off the top of my head in this situation. I got involved in the union and went headfirst into the strike because I thought we could fight for a more livable contract for ALL. I'll be mastering out in the spring. I can't be financially dependent any longer, it's bringing up PTSD from not being able to rely on myself.
"I’m on fellowship, and while I spend most of my pay on rent, I have the privilege of digging into my savings and leaning on my family that many of my friends and colleagues do not. I’m doing this in solidarity with all the grad students who do not have the privileges I do. One should not need to have considerable savings put aside just to be able to go to grad school. I’m also very touched by the struggles of my fellow disabled grads and was hoping for more and better protections for them (and myself). On top of everything, I just found that being out on the picket line day after day had a positive effect on my mental health.
I can’t remember a time in my life when I’ve socialized as much as I have on the picket line. As an international student who comes from a place where unionizing and labor actions/protests are illegal, I’m very new to all of this and it has been a very valuable educational experience. Initially intending to participate only tangentially, I found myself getting more involved and eager to help out wherever I could. I made a lot of new friends, met a lot of new people, and learned a lot through it all. I would be happy to be even more involved next time around.
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"My pay was changed multiple times within the first few months of getting into my program as a first year to try to prevent us from joining the union. I am rent-burdened and have been overworked and underpaid as a student worker for a long time. Enough is enough.
I have been involved in picket safety efforts, which I greatly enjoy. Putting on a vest and helping rank and file march safely, and putting myself in between them and traffic was terrifying but empowering in a lot of ways. I loved the chants, the camaraderie, and being able to finally meet people outside my department bubble."
Summer, Environmental Studies PhD Student, UC Santa Cruz
I did my MA at UC Berkeley, where the housing situation is very bad. But I can confidently say that Santa Cruz’s housing situation is much worse. It is impossible to find housing that you can afford on your own with a grad student’s salary. When I was first looking for a living space here, myself and my friends got turned down by landlords because our paystubs were too low to give them the confidence that we would actually be able to make the rent each month. These experiences of being denied housing simply because I am a graduate student have been a wake up call for myself and a lot of my colleagues.
The Santa Cruz rental market is very hostile not just to graduate students, but to blue collar workers, teachers, and even middle class people who don’t have a steady high income, that is how bad it is here. I strike out of concern for many of my colleagues who are in unstable housing situations; living in hotels, couch-surfing, or trapped with abusive landlords because that is the only situation they can afford. In a addition, many landlords here abide by sketchy lease policies where they can kick out the renter at any time and they often hold this power over their tenants’ heads. 60% of my paycheck and the paycheck of my three roommates goes to rent. I think that by striking and winning a good contract, we have a great chance of eliminating worker exploitation across the UC system.
I study the food system, and I have connections to the campus farm and agroecology program. I take a lot of pride in being a member of the food team and working to provide food for our campus picket line. So many students have expressed their gratitude for being able to eat for free here on the picket line each day; some have said that they otherwise skip meals to save money. The fight for COLA ties into food justice, everyone deserves to have the funds to afford what they want to eat. Nobody should be forced to choose between buying textbooks and buying fresh produce, which is unfortunately the situation for many grads across the UC.
Robin, History of Consciousness PhD Student, UC Santa Cruz
“I was lucky enough to secure a stable living situation with some great roommates - but situations like mine are rare here. Inflation has taken a huge toll on the housing market, and landlords here are notoriously predatory and unscrupulous. A friend of mine was served an eviction notice by a landlord after recently moving in as part of a scheme to steal his security deposit. This friend later ended up having to live in the local Best Western, and I know a variety of students who are living in hotels because they were scammed by landlords or simply didn’t have enough money to continue making rent. Witnessing the struggles of my colleagues has made it clear that the status quo cannot continue.
The UC needs to pay its students fairly because if they don’t, they’re discriminating against graduate students without generational wealth or the personal economic means to afford a ridiculously high cost of living. If we win a COLA and better childcare protections, we will set a new standard for academic labor practices in this country. It’s time to change subpar working conditions and fight against systems that are impossible to navigate in if you don’t have wealth and privilege. If a prospective student asked me about whether they should come here, I would possibly have to tell them that they would become impoverished paying high rents and that maybe they shouldn’t come - and that’s wrong.
I’m part of the music team here on the picket line, which I’m very excited about. I’m a big soccer fan, so I love making riffs of soccer chants with pro-union/pro-strike lyrics to bring the energy up and get people engaged. For me and other members of the team, music is more than just a way of self-expression, it’s a way of being true to your political commitments and building solidarity with others in a light-hearted way, and that is what will keep us motivated as this strike continues.
Our picket has really brought out the best in people, there is something for everyone to contribute to, whether its cooking, phone banking, media outreach, leading chants, or composing strike music. I’ve made great connections here and I think that community spirit is why our picket line has remained strong, even with all the challenges."
