UC lecturers call off two-day strike after last-minute agreement

The union representing University of California lecturers announced early Wednesday that a planned two-day systemwide strike over labor negotiations has been called off after the union and university reached a new five-year collective bargaining agreement.

After what the University Council-American Federation of Teachers described as “a marathon negotiating session” that lasted into the early morning, the union and UC officials reached an agreement on what UC-AFT says gives them “groundbreaking improvements in crucial areas, including job stability, workload and compensation.”

The union, which represents about 6,500 lecturers across the 10-campus system, had planned to hold strikes across all campuses Wednesday and Thursday, but instead now says celebratory rallies are planned at noon Wednesday at those locations.

UC-AFT officials had accused the university administration of not bargaining in good faith and filed seven unfair labor practices complaints with state regulators over the past 20 months.

UC officials denied that they negotiated in bad faith but had discouraged a strike that they said would be disruptive to students across the state.