NEWS RELEASE, 5/13/99 UC Berkeley ready to negotiate with graduate student instructors

By Public Affairs

BERKELEY--The University of California, Berkeley's teaching assistants voted in favor of representation by the United Auto Workers today (Thursday, May 13). About 71 percent of the eligible graduate students participated in the election with 74 percent voting in support of the union. There are 1,590 graduate students who were eligible to vote. Most of these students lead discussion sections for large lecture courses. Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl said he was pleased at the high voter turnout. "Our main objective was to encourage all graduate student instructors to vote in this important election, and I'm very pleased with the turnout," he said. "They have spoken strongly and in impressive numbers. As I have said from the start, this campus is committed to respecting the final election outcome. We look forward to a productive relationship with the union. ###