UC Strike: Why Berkeley student workers struggle to find safe and affordable homes

Diego Villegas had no illusions that leaving Mexico City to pursue a graduate degree at UC Berkeley would be easy. But he was unprepared for the harsh reality of finding safe and affordable housing in a college town struggling to accommodate its growing student population.

Villegas, 27, is one of roughly 48,000 University of California graduate student workers and academic employees at campuses across the state who, demanding higher wages to ease the strain of mounting housing costs. While two of the four bargaining groups representing nonstudent employees recently reached an initial deal with UC, student workers such as Villegas — who make up the large majority of strikers — have not.

“Time and time again have neglected their responsibilities to build student housing for their growing academic communities,” said Berkeley City Councilmember Rigel Robinson, a 26-year-old UC Berkeley graduate student studying public policy who supports the strike. that includes pay raises and other benefits. But the remaining 36,000 lower-paid graduate-student workers are still in negotiations.are vowing to continue the strike until student workers reach a deal that reflects the high cost of housing and other workplace accommodations.found nine in 10 student employees in the UC system spend at least 30% of their income on rent, classifying them as “rent-burdened” by federal standards. And many spend much more than that.

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