UCSB students strike on Monday sending a message to UC Regents President Janet Napolitano (Photo: UCSB 4 COLA / Twitter)

By edhat staff

Approximately 54 UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) graduate students were fired on Friday as UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) graduate students continue to strike.

Two weeks ago, UCSB graduate students agreed to join in solidarity with UCSC graduate students who were holding a wildcat strike, meaning a strike by unionized workers without union leadership approval. UCSC students were in a monthslong campaign for a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in raises for teaching assistants who state they cannot afford the cost of living in Santa Cruz.

UCSC students were threatened with termination by UC Regents President Janet Napolitano if they didn't turn in the grades for the classes they were assisting. Napolitano penned an open letter stating the UC Regents have offered benefits to Teaching Assistants in a collective bargaining agreement through June 30, 2022.

After the threat of termination, UCSB graduate students joined the cause and demanded their own COLA of $1,807.51 a month. They have since held a series of strikes and rallies in the past week and occupied Cheadle Hall, UCSB's main administration building which houses Chancellor Henry Yang's office, and is now demanding the fired UCSC students be reinstated.

we occupied the UCSB visitor's center for an hour as we heard from speakers about class consciousness, the Reagan admin's dismantling of CA higher ed funding, and of course #COLA#COLAStrike pic.twitter.com/JpJWmSb7xa — Megan Newsome (@ItsMeganNewsome) March 2, 2020

UCSC officials gave students until February 21 to turn in their grades for the Fall semester, which were due in December, or face termination. The University continued to state they are unable to negotiate outside the teacher's labor union contract, United Auto Workers Local 2865. Their last negotiated contract was in 2018 that included a no-strike clause.

However, UC Regents extended the deadline to February 27 and offered a one-time $2,500 stipend for all MFA and doctorate students and two temporary housing assistance programs as long as the teacher's turned in 2019 grades. On Friday, 54 UCSC students received termination letters citing abandonment of job responsibilities and insubordination.

UCSB students gathered at Storke Tower on Monday afternoon and will hold a general assembly at 6:00 p.m. to discuss their next steps.

An open letter has been signed from students and department chairs representing over 50 colleges nationwide including Harvard, Stanford, and Rutgers expressing their support for the COLA strike.

Graduate students and teaching assistants at UCSB do not intend to suspend their strike.