“Across the board, folks feel like they are not being valued as members of the UC community, even though we give so much and keep it running,” Kirsten Bottles Willer said.

Kirsten Willer, program coordinator at UC Berkeley Labor Center, said current wages do not reflect inflation and the high cost of living in the Bay Area, hindering her personal aspirations to start a family. “Fantastic talent is driven away from the university due to the lack of pay,” Willer said at the meeting.