UCLA SysAdmins march on Executive Vice Chancellor Darnell Hunt, demanding recognition of their vital work

At UCLA, the systems administrators who keep the lights on, the computer systems functioning, and videos streaming at their highest quality recently flexed their collective muscle. Ernie Ibarra, a System Administrator 3 at the University of California, Los Angeles, for over twenty-five years, and his colleagues recently staged a march on the Executive Vice Chancellor to call for fairness in pay and recognition of their essential contributions.

The petition delivery highlighted not just a demand for equitable compensation but a demand for respect and acknowledgment of their indispensable role, significantly magnified during the pandemic's peak.

"IT workers are like electricity," explained Ernie. "No one notices us until the lights are off. So, students, other university employees, visitors, and the community won't know what they will be missing without us."

"System administrators are the backbone of any institution, ensuring that the digital infrastructure, upon which modern academia relies, runs smoothly," Ernie articulated, shedding light on the often-invisible labor that keeps world-renowned public research universities like UCLA operational. Throughout the pandemic, these workers were the architects behind the seamless transition to virtual learning, a feat that underscored their critical role yet went largely unacknowledged.

The march on the boss aimed not only to highlight disparities but also to forge a path toward recognition of their vital work. "This was about more than just our wages; it was about valuing our contributions to the university," Ernie emphasized, revealing the depth of the issue. 

"I recommend conducting research on the target," detailed Ernie about how workers came to focus on Hunt as the primary stakeholder of their petition. "Find out what kind of person they are, whether they're active in the community, and whether they care about their public image."

Chancellor Hunt is a sociologist and academic administrator serving as executive vice chancellor and provost of UCLA since September 2022. "Our decision to march on Hunt was informed by our previous experience and the realization that we needed to target someone with a genuine capacity to understand and address our concerns," Ernie recounted. "Not only is he the number two person at the university as the provost, but Hunt also serves on the Campus Executive IT Governance Board."

Ernie highlighted that researching targets for petitions is an excellent way to move coworkers into becoming more active as UPTE members: "It's about stirring and encouraging them to take action, whether signing a petition or participating in a march. Once we identified Hunt as a target, we saw increased engagement. Notably, individuals who had been inactive for over three years suddenly participated by signing our petition. That was intriguing, especially considering some of these individuals had never before taken part in any of our initiatives since joining UPTE."

The petition, a document laden with the collective aspirations and grievances of UCLA's IT workforce, underscored the stark disparities in pay between UCLA and other UC campuses despite the escalating cost of living in Los Angeles. "We are not asking for more than we deserve; we are asking for equity and recognition," Ernie expressed, encapsulating the essence of their campaign.