BACKGROUND:
The University of California is dependent on the 6800 lecturers it employs: they teach one-third of undergraduate hours across the system, and on some campuses more than half. Three out of four lecturers work on short-term contracts with no job stability, no fair and consistent evaluation process, and no contractual assurance that they'll be considered for renewal. Their median annual salary is $19,067, even as UC campuses are located in regions with some of the highest costs of living in the country. Most departments would not be able to mount their curricula without the skilled labor of these dedicated educators.

The quality of undergraduate education at the University of California depends upon ALL of its faculty, lecturers included. Our lecturer colleagues’ precarious working conditions are our students’ learning conditions.

For the first time in over 20 years, and after 2 years of negotiations, our lecturer colleagues, represented by UC-AFT, have voted with an overwhelming majority of 96% to authorize a strike. As Senate faculty, we stand in solidarity with them.

PLEDGE:
I pledge to stand in solidarity with my lecturer colleagues in one or more of the following ways (check all that apply; responses may be made public):