<p>Hundreds of teaching assistants and tutors gathered at several sites across campus last week to vote on whether to give the union authority to call a strike during negotiations in March. <br/>The United Auto Workers Local 2865, which represents more than 12,000 graduate student instructors, conducted the vote across all nine University of California campuses. <br/>If the authorization vote passes by the necessary two-thirds majority, it would have no immediate impact, but would allow the union to strike during the contract-renewal talks in March, in effect giving them the option to strike if they are not happy with the negotiations. <br/>?If the vote passes, it will send a strong message to the university that we are prepared to go on strike,? said Scott Bailey Clifthorne, president of UAW Local 2865. Clifthorne said the UC has a long history of bargaining unfairly with unions. <br/>All graduate students part of the union were eligible to vote, and some saw the benefit of having leverage during the talks. <br/>?I voted for the authorization because it will give us the necessary leverage to receive proper compensation during the spring negotiations,? said a graduate student who declined to be named due to possible employment conflict. <br/>The student, who volunteered at one of the voting sites outside Young Research Library, said he expected the authorization would pass because most union members want to have the option of striking. <br/>The union?s current contract with the university contains a ?no-strike? clause, Clifthorne said. <br/>But he said if the university should break union laws during the negotiations, they are eligible to go on strike. <br/>?There are economic concerns regarding our wages that will be brought up,? he said. <br/>The last time the union went on strike was in October 2003. That strike was the result of the university allegedly violating 64 labor practices. During the strike, graduate students across the UC campuses protested and discussion sections were canceled near finals time. <br/>The union almost went on strike again in December of that year, but last-minute negotiations with the university prevented it. <br/>During the strike in 2003, some students were upset because they were unable to receive the help from TAs they believed they needed, the Daily Bruin reported, <br/>But not all current students are concerned by the notion of a strike. <br/>?I simply would not care if (TAs) went on strike,? said Jonathan Yee, a first-year undeclared student. ?There is an alternative, which is students reviewing on their own without the help of (TAs).? <br/>As of Sunday afternoon, the results of the voting were not in. However, the general consensus was that it would pass. <br/>?From my conversations with people working at the polls, I expect the authorization to pass,? said Clifthorne.</p><br><br><a href='; target='_blank'>;