UC officials seek legal means to end student worker strike
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UC Santa Cruz student workers and pro-Palestinian protesters strike last month. Photo: Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
The University of California is asking the state labor board to put an end to student-worker strikes related to pro-Palestinian demonstrations that broke out across the country in recent months.
Why it matters: The union's strike is in protest of UC's handling of encampments where police arrested hundreds of students and employees at UC San Diego, UCLA and UC Irvine.
- Those academic workers — ranging from academic researchers to graduate teaching assistants who hold office hours and grade assignments — are also facing university disciplinary measures.
The big picture: Thousands of students across the U.S. have been arrested for their involvement in pro-Palestinian protests as university administrations cracked down in unprecedented ways.
State of play: Thousands of student workers, post doctoral scholars and other academic employees have walked off the job across UC campuses over the last two weeks, starting at UC Santa Cruz on May 20.
- Since then, student employees at UCLA and UC Davis have joined the strike.
- The strike will expand to UCSD and UC Santa Barbara campuses on Monday and UC Irvine on Wednesday, according to United Auto Workers Local 4811.
- The union is demanding that the university drop charges and disciplinary actions against all academic employees, students, faculty and staff who face disciplinary action or arrest due to pro-Palestinian protests, according to Joyce Chan, UCSD post-doctoral student and UAW 4811 recording secretary.
Driving the news: UC officials are seeking a court order to bar UAW 4811, which represents 48,000 academic employees, from engaging in strike activity.
- Their filing to the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) this week is their second request for an injunction. PERB denied the first request last week but agreed to reconsider if they provided more evidence.
What they're saying: In the filing, attorneys for the university claim that the strike is causing irreparable harm to hundreds of thousands of students who they say are now deprived of "access to key instructors."
- Citing UAW 4811 president Rafael Jaime's vow to "maximize chaos and confusion," the attorneys accuse the union's members of blocking roadways and forcibly occupying an academic building.
- The university has also argued that UAW 4811 violated the no-strike provision in its collective bargaining agreement.
- "We remain hopeful that PERB will swiftly end these disruptive strikes," Heather Hansen, a spokesperson for the UC Office of the President, said in an emailed statement.
The other side: UAW 4811 maintains that legal precedent allows unions to strike over unfair labor practices even if they aren't within the scope of a contract.
- UAW 4811 first filed unfair labor practice charges in early May, accusing the university of staging a "forceful police intervention" to retaliate against student employees participating in protests.
- In addition to standing in solidarity with Palestinians, the protesters were demanding the right to opt out of "military-funded research" as well as the disclosure and divestment of UC "funds from Israel's war effort," UAW 4811's charges allege.
What to watch: The labor board could hand down a decision as soon as next week.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to remove post-doctoral scholars from a list of the academic workers facing disciplinary measures from the university.
