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By Caitlin Roberson

bruin contributor

croberson@media.ucla.edu

The United Auto Workers union and the University of California reached a tentative agreement on their contract Tuesday evening and canceled the teaching assistant strike scheduled to begin today.

Specific details of the agreement will not be released until after a public UAW ratification vote next week. UAW policy requires that all union members know agreement terms before they are released publicly, said UAW spokeswoman Beth Rayfield.

The UAW had originally planned to have TAs strike today and during finals week due to alleged unfair labor practices filed against the UC. The UAW and the UC have been negotiating a new contract since March. The contract expired Sept. 30.

The UAW wanted the right to sympathy strike, which is when one union joins another union’s strike. It was also fighting for binding arbitration – the designation of an impartial third party to which both parties must adhere – to settle UAW and UC conflicts.

The union also believed the UC sent negotiators who lacked authority to implement meeting decisions, union officials said.

The UC argued that sympathy strikes break UC labor peace agreements and “No Strike” policies and that binding arbitration is unnecessary because TA contract terms have already been determined. In addition, the university said its negotiators do have sufficient authority and that allegations of unfair labor practices were misleading.

Despite their differences, both the UAW and the UC agreed a strike would have potentially detrimental effects on student education.

Before an agreement was reached, UC President Robert Dynes said Tuesday in a press conference that he wanted to reach an equitable agreement as soon as possible.

“Everybody loses if TAs go on strike. The TAs lose, the university loses and the students really lose,” he said. “If I look unhappy, I am unhappy.”

With finals being so close, the UC and the UAW reached an agreement to avoid negative impacts on undergraduate instruction.

To inform its members – many of whom are UC TAs – the union has sent out e-mails, held meetings and posted information on its Web site, Rayfield said.

Still, some TAs feel the UAW has not been as direct and informative about the strike as it should be.

Mehera Gerardo, TA for a general education history class, said she has felt in the dark about the strike for a some time.

“The union has not been great about keeping us updated,” she said.

The strike was scheduled to begin early 10th week until the union sent an e-mail at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday saying the strike would commence Thursday instead, Gerardo said.

“I showed up (Tuesday) without any of my materials or work clothes because I hadn’t read my e-mail,” Gerardo said.

“I wasn’t prepared to teach my discussion sections that day,” she added.

Many professors have also had to deal with being kept in the dark about whether their TAs would strike.

History Professor Kevin Terraciano felt unsure about how to structure his final because of the impending strikes.

The class final exam is scheduled for Dec. 10 – six days after the strike was scheduled to start – so Terraciano did not know if the strike would be over in time for his TAs to grade it.

Terraciano originally envisioned a final consisting of multiple essay and short answer questions, but was prepared to compose an alternative exam consisting of multiple choice questions addressing the same material if his TAs were still striking.

“I couldn’t possibly read 320 essays, so I would have needed to make a new final of only multiple choice. I have never done that before,” he said.

Since his TAs will not be on strike, Terraciano can go back to his initially prepared exam format.

Terraciano’s students are relieved their TAs will not be striking.

“I was concerned about our final because I did not fully understand how to answer multiple choice questions about essay question topics,” said first-year undeclared student Damon James.

“Now that the strikes have been terminated, I’m less worried,” he added.

Gerardo said she was pleased that the strike was called off as well, as she is no longer as worried about her students and their preparation for the final.

“You get attached to students and invested in them. To feel like you are abandoning them right when they really need you is a painful experience,” she added. “Now, I can again be available to them.”