Today the Academic Student Employees at CSU and UAW planned a strike over the CSU’s unfair labor practices against teaching associates, graduate assistants, tutors and other instructional student assistants.

The UAW, however, has agreed to postpone its strike, originally scheduled to take place at 7 a.m., due to a meeting with the California Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg in an effort to reach a solution to the contract dispute.

The conflict stems from the fact that student employees are the only group of unionized employees or administrators at the university who do not receive a fee waiver benefit. The CSU is one of the only university systems that doesn’t consider fee waivers for student employees as a standard benefit, unlike the University of California.

Anthony Portantino, chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, said that student employees took a seven percent wage cut when fees increased this year.

“Without a fee waiver, the average ASE earns a mere $1.80 an hour, after paying student fees,” Portantino said in a press release.

The negotiations have not yet been resolved, and the strike will remain postponed until the meetings with the university and Steinberg are settled.

The State Hornet will update as information is available.

Tammy Nazanda can be reached at [email protected]