Some part-time teachers rallied in front of UCLA on Tuesday to protest layoffs throughout the state.
Trevor Griffey teaches labor studies at UC Irvine and serves as the vice president of UCAFT, the union representing the part-time faculty. He told KNX News’ Emily Valdez the layoffs are varying by campus.
“UC Santa Cruz, for our union, is one of the places where we see some of the most cuts to the academic mission,” he said. “They're going to stop teaching German. They're going to stop teaching Farsi, they're going to stop teaching Arabic, and all the teachers who are doing that are going to be laid off.”
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He said UC’s finances, however, did not get a budget cut and were held constant by the state.
“At the same time, they're giving raises to non-union employees, including, and while we don't begrudge that at all for trying to help keep up with inflation, they don't have a progressive wage policy,” he said. “So it means that there are as many as 15 or 16,000 employees of UC who earn more than the governor of the state of California.”
KNX News 97.1 FM has reached out to the UC administration and received the following statement from a spokesperson:
"As a public institution facing increased federal funding cuts, rising costs, and flat state funding, UC must continue to review its budget to ensure it can deliver on its mission and maintain long-term financial stability. “
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