Unionizing Gave Me Hope — and Made Me Feel Like a Human Being
I work for a prestigious university with a $7 billion endowment, yet I still struggle to pay rent. Joining with my coworkers and fighting for a union finally gave me hope that the odds aren't stacked against my survival.
At the University of California school system, 48,000 workers represented by the UAW are negotiating new contracts at the same time. (SRU-UAW)
On my daily walks to use the nearest gender-neutral bathroom, one city block from the lab where I work at UCLA, I used to stress about a wide range of things. Who might be questioning where I was going and whether I belong? How would I afford gender-affirming health care and rent? Am I the only academic worker struggling to make ends meet in Los Angeles?
Lately, however, things have changed. These walks are now a time to think about the fight I am waging with my coworkers to ensure that we have a more dignified future.
In 2020, a coworker asked me to sign an authorization card to form a union for the seventeen thousand student researchers across the University of California (UC) system. After I agreed, they asked if I would get more involved, noting that the union would only be as strong as our willingness to participate in it.
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