A strike by University of California graduate-student instructors is anticipated to begin Friday (March 17), announced by the United Auto Workers last Monday if unfair labor practice charges filed by the union last week are not resolved. In a March 13 news release, the Association of Graduate Student Employees/United Auto Workers indicated that readers, tutors and teaching assistants at UC's eight general campuses were prepared to walk picket lines as winter-quarter exams begin. "We know that withholding our services will have a critical impact on the quality of education, but we want to force UC to obey their legal obligations to us as a union," said Beth Rayfield, UC Irvine teaching assistant and UAW bargaining team member. The union has accused the university of bad-faith bargaining, filing charges last Thursday with the state's Public Employment Relations Board. Dennis Shimek, UC Davis associate vice chancellor for human resources, said he is discussing the complaints with Davis representatives of AGSE/UAW. Complaints include the charge that faculty members are arranging delivery of instruction in their courses directly with their teaching assistants rather than through union bargainers. "To the extent we discover practices on the Davis campus not in compliance with the law, we have every intention of correcting them," Shimek said. "There are a limited number of items regarding the Davis campus, and I'm confident that our responses to these complaints will be understood and accepted in good faith by the UAW." A strike, Shimek added, "would be most unfortunate, not needed or necessary and not consistent with where we are in the bargaining process." UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said he hoped that an amicable resolution could be reached and that the campus's commitment to its undergraduates would not be breached. "I know that our graduate-student instructors and our faculty will make every effort to honor their commitments. In support of that good will, I pledge that the campus will continue to work toward agreement upon a fair and responsible contract." Deans met with department chairs early in the week to discuss preparations for a possible strike. "Our graduate-student colleagues are an integral part of the education we offer undergraduates, and their absence from the classroom or laboratory would certainly be felt in the event of a strike," said Patricia Turner, UC Davis vice provost for undergraduate studies. "But we will work very hard and do all we can to minimize disruption of undergraduate instruction." Faculty are being asked to be especially attentive to the grading needs of students who are scheduled to graduate, are applying to graduate or professional schools or who are applying for fellowships and scholarships, Turner said. In addition, a "hot line" has been established to provide faculty and students with updates, as warranted, if a strike is called. The phone number is (530) 754-6600. Information would also be made available on the campus's Web home page, http://www.ucdavis.edu. Approximately 1,200 UC Davis student employees are members of AGSE/UAW. In a late February vote, 433 supported a strike, with 84 opposed. In December 1998, UC graduate-student instructors participated in a six-day strike over the issue of collective bargaining recognition. They returned to work after a "cooling-off period" agreement was brokered between the university and the UAW by state Senate leader John Burton and then Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa. Last spring, the grad-student instructors voted for exclusive representation by the UAW and systemwide negotiations began last September. In December, the UAW asked PERB to declare impasse. The university opposed this request, believing further progress could be made at the bargaining table; PERB agreed with the university and, in January, instructed the parties to resume bargaining. Contract negotiations have now shifted to the campuses.