The strike of 48,000 academic workers at the University of California is now in its second week.
That includes picket lines at all 10 UC campuses.
There are 7,700 union members on strike at UC San Diego where the issues include pay raises and better working conditions.
Members on the picket lines include graduate and post-doctoral scholars, academic researchers and teaching assistants.
Alex Wenzel is a Ph.D. student in Biomedical Informatics at UC San Diego and a member of the newly formed union, Student Researchers United.
He spoke to KPBS Midday Edition about the ongoing labor dispute.
