The union that represents University of California academic workers announced Wednesday that it had authorized a work stoppage over the administration’s crackdown on Gaza protests on campus.
The authorization vote doesn’t guarantee a strike, but union leadership can call for a work stoppage at any point, local union leaders said. If the union goes on strike, classes and research could face major disruption at the 10 campuses that make up the University of California system, as many of the institutions wrap up the school year.
A work stoppage at the University of California would reflect a major escalation of tensions that have emerged as universities around the country have punished students for pro-Palestine activism and turned to law enforcement to remove protest encampments.
“We [held] this vote because the university has committed a number of unfair practice violations against members of our union and violated our fundamental right to freedom of speech and protest on campus,” said Rafael Jaime, co-president of UAW Local 4811.
GET CAUGHT UP
Summarized stories to quickly stay informed
“This strike is illegal,” said Melissa Matella, associate vice president of systemwide labor relations at the University of California. “UAW’s decision to strike over nonlabor issues violates the no-strike clause of their contracts with UC and sets a dangerous and far-reaching precedent that social, political and cultural issues — no matter how valid — that are not labor-related can support a labor strike.”
On April 30, police did not intervene for hours at UCLA as pro-Palestinian demonstrators, including many union members, were violently attacked by counterprotesters at an encampment. The next night, Los Angeles police officers in riot gear dismantled the camp and arrested 210 people for refusing to leave.
The UAW strike authorization stems from unfair labor practice charges filed by the union in the aftermath of the arrests. Filed with the California Public Employment Relations Board, the labor charges accuse the university of illegally changing its workplace free-speech policies at UCLA without notice.
The UAW alleges the university interfered with employees’ “right to engage in peaceful protest at the worksite” and also violated labor rights by suspending student workers who had been arrested at the San Diego campus. The university also threatened those at the San Diego campus who face disciplinary charges with eviction from campus housing.
The union is asking the university to resolve the charges to avoid a work stoppage. The union is separately demanding the university negotiate with protesters and provide amnesty for all campus employees and students who face discipline and arrest, as well as divest from weapon manufacturers, contractors and companies “profiting from Israel’s war on Gaza.”
Local UAW leaders have approved a “stand-up strike,” modeled after the limited strikes that the UAW levied last year against the Big 3 Detroit automakers. During those strikes, the union called on workers at individual work sites to walk off the job, rather than target all locations at once.
Jaime, the UAW Local 4811 co-president, said that if the union moves to strike, it “will begin calling on campuses one by one” to walk out.
