On Monday, tens of thousands of graduate student employees across the ten UC campuses went on strike to demand better wages and conditions. The cost of living is extraordinarily high in California around the universities, which has imposed a significant financial strain on these employees who have been forced to spend a large portion of their income on expensive rent. The issues reflect a larger trend, as teaching assistants across the US have historically been underpaid yet serve an essential role in higher education by staffing discussion sections and labs and grading assignments. In response to this strike action, the UC system has announced that it will bring in a mediator to facilitate negotiations, and it has formally recognized the valuable contributions of graduate students to its learning mission. However, the work stoppage and strike are expected to continue until an agreement is made.
See "Graduate student employees across all UC campuses on strike, fighting against historically low pay in the largest strike action in higher education", Soumya Karlamangla, New York Times, November 15, 2022