A recent survey revealed that around 70 percent of University of California administrative and clerical workers struggle to adequately feed themselves.
Most of the survey’s respondents reported eating lower quality food or skipping meals altogether and included stories about dealing with food insecurity.
To conduct the survey, Occidental College’s Urban and Environmental Policy Institute questioned 14,000 members of the UC worker union Teamsters Local 2010. The authors say the survey’s 3,000 respondents were an accurate representation of the general worker population.
Around 900 of the respondents answered an open-ended question at the end of the survey prompting them to share their stories of food insecurity.
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UC Spokesman Dianne Klein said in a statement that the university has not examined the specifics of the report and will not comment on its findings, reports The Daily Bruin.
Wages for UC employees are determined during system contract negotiations. The current contract agreement expires in November.
“We respect the collective bargaining process and believe matters such as wages and benefits should be negotiated at the bargaining table,” Klein said.
Teamsters spokesperson Christian Castro admitted the union asked Occidental to investigate food security among UC employees, but insisted the survey was conducted independently.
“At the end of the day, our workers don’t have the money to make ends meet,” Castro said.
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