(KRON) — One of University of California, Berkeley’s student housing complexes has been enduring a game of ping-pong between its landlords and tenants regarding recent rent hike increases and the alleged violation of some residents’ union contracts.  After allegedly “abruptly leaving” the Zoom conference call for negotiations, University Village’s Associate Vice Chancellor canceled the meeting, calling it “a spectacle.” Now, residents are urging UC to negotiate with them -- again -- in good faith. 3 arrested for armed robbery of online marketplace seller University Village, in Albany, houses over 900 graduate and post-doc students. Many are low-income residents facing debt from college loans or medical bills. Since they are older students, many also have children to care for.  On July 1, UCB imposed a $64 monthly parking fee, accumulating over $750 yearly. Rent prices have also increased 4% since July 4 — the third consecutive year UC has increased its yearly prices by 4%.  A memo to residents read in part: "All Resident, Employee, and Guest vehicles parking on the grounds of University Village are required to have a valid Parking Permit or payment of the Visitor Parking Fee." Since imposing the fees, UC Berkeley has allegedly issued “hundreds of parking citations” to University Village residents “in an effort to quash the residents' organized effort to stop new parking fees and rent hikes at the Village," Brad Hirn, UAW 4811 member, told KRON4. More than 300 residents have allegedly refused to pay the new fees and citations in reply to the citations, Hirn said.  University Village residents, union members, and city officials alike were waiting for AVC Mackness on Wednesday in hopes of negotiating the recent parking fees and rent increases. Photo: Brad Hirn After rescheduling the meeting twice, on Tuesday evening, over 130 residents gathered to address the recent price hikes with UC Berkeley’s Associate Vice Chancellor Jo Mackness to reach a “fair agreement on parking fees and rent price hikes,” Hirn said, alleging the rent hikes are also a violation of union contracts.  Upon entering the Zoom meeting, Mackness “abruptly left,” Hirn said. “We prepared for weeks to reach an agreement with UC Berkeley, and they just walked out without even saying a word to us,” said Ninel Melkonyan, a UAW 4811 member, parent, and resident at the Village. “It was incredibly disrespectful and disappointing.” After ending the Zoom meeting, Mackness allegedly told Hirn over the phone that the event was a “spectacle” and that the University would not tolerate it, then hung up.  “UC thought they could cite their way out of this, and now they’re trying to dictate how we show up for our own meeting,” said Melkonyan. “More than 300 residents are holding the line. Enough is enough.” In hopes of reaching the assistant vice chancellor, residents led a delegation to AVC Mackness’ office on Wednesday afternoon the following day. They allegedly hand-delivered a petition with 300 signatures demanding “action for UC to resolve the price hikes and parking fees.”  University Village residents gather outside Mackness' office with the petition, writing in part, "We refuse to pay UC's parking fees and urge UC to come to the table." Photo: Brad Hirn “After this meeting was rescheduled twice on July 11 and July 16, we were determined to be ready, bringing a negotiation team of 12 equipped with statements and testimonials,” Hirn continued, “Empowered by the abrupt end to our meeting, we decided, as a Village, that we will continue to hold the line. We refuse to pay these new parking fees until UC negotiates with us in good faith.” According to Hirn and UAW 4811 members, residents are proposing that UC offer “a base rent reduction to offset the new monthly fee, waive all citations issued in the last 12 months, and engage in negotiations in good faith.”  KRON4 has reached out to AVC Mackness for comment and has not heard back as of the publish time of this report.