I don’t really understand why Berkeley has to retroactively give $7500 to students who were never expecting it in the first place. When the minimum wage is raised, should employers have to compensate employees for previous hours worked below the new minimum wage?
I'm not buying it. The labour agreement allowed for students working 8 hours/week. This wasn't even an oversight -- it was specifically considered during contract negotiations and the (lack of) benefits such students would receive was agreed upon.
Past practice has force as well – the written agreement is only one part of what binds the parties, and Berkeley made a change to working conditions without bargaining over how that would affect workers. That's unlawful.
