As the 48,000-member University of California University Workers Union announced a strike Monday at the University of Santa Cruz over alleged free speech violations during pro-Palestinian protests, the The University of California filed a lawsuit Friday to stop what it considers illegal action, thereby increasing tensions. disrupt the university system.
The union’s decision to strike at the 19,764-student campus — where nearly 2,000 students are in graduate school — could deal a major blow to operations at a critical time during the final weeks of the spring quarter.
The targeting of UC Santa Cruz comes after 79% of voting members statewide this week authorized union leaders to call “continued” strikes — not over pay and benefits issues social workers, but for alleged unfair labor practices against union members who supported the pro-Palestinians. student protests demanding that universities divest from Israel and arms companies.
The union represents graduate student teaching assistants, researchers and other academic workers at the University of California’s 10 campuses.
The Santa Cruz strike would be the first in a series of potential work stoppages that the union plans to initiate one by one on campuses to demand that UC administrators change their approach to pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Strike threats prompted UC leaders to file an unfair labor practice lawsuit against the union Friday, calling on the state labor board to order students to “cease and desist” the walkout .
“This strike directly violates the no-strike provisions (of the collective bargaining agreement) and has no relation to the employment of UAW members at the university. Instead, as communications from the UAW and its members make clear, the UAW is striking in support of protest activities surrounding the Middle East conflict,” the UC said in its filing with the state labor board.
UC officials say the strike is illegal because of a no-strike clause in the union’s contract, ratified in late 2022, which secured significant pay raises and benefits improvements for union members. The union says the strike falls within its legal rights because it is related to an unfair labor practice complaint filed by workers in early May with the state labor commission.
“Particularly in today’s climate, if the UAW (and other unions) were able to ignore no-strike clauses, the university – and every other public agency in California – would face constant strikes advancing the points from political and/or social points of view,” the university’s filing states.
J. Felix De La Torre, general counsel for the labor board, said a decision on the cease-and-desist order requested by the university could be made early next week. He added that the Labor Commission also proposed a mediator to try to resolve the conflict.
The union chose to strike on a smaller UC campus, where tensions have been lower and police have not been called to make arrests or sweeps. But the campus is no stranger to labor protests. In 2020, the university fired dozens of graduate students from their teaching assistant positions after strikes. At least 17 arrests were made during a related student protest.
This spring, UCLA, UC Irvine and UC Berkeley have been particularly volatile hotbeds of pro-Palestinian protests. A violent mob attack on a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA last month prompted multiple investigations into the university’s handling of the melee and the delayed police response.
For two weeks, UC Santa Cruz students, including unionized graduate students, maintained a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus in support of divestment from Israel. The strike comes as protesters and the university administration say they are at a standstill. Protest leaders said Thursday they were “under imminent threat of a police operation” after saying the university had warned them to “cease all camping activities on university property “.
In a letter to the Santa Cruz campus community Friday, campus director Lori Kletzer said the university would work to minimize disruption caused by the strike, “especially given the many disruptions in the ‘education and research that has affected students and researchers in recent years’.
No duration has been set for the strike, which the union announced with a promotional video on the social media site June.
Rafael Jaime, co-president of United Auto Workers Local 4811 and a doctoral student in UCLA’s English department, said that to resolve the strike, the union needs “to see real commitment from the university to respect our rights to free speech and to peacefully protest on campus. .”
A first step would be for administrators to reconsider the discipline and suspension notices that have been sent to some students involved in the protests, he said.
Speaking before the strike decision, Jaime said a strike would mean “the cessation of all academic work, including research, teaching and grading”.
Student workers will receive $500 a week in strike pay, about 33 percent less than what the average teaching assistant earns for a 20-hour work week, he said.
Jess Fournier, a union representative at UC Santa Cruz, said that even though the alleged unfair labor practices did not take place on their campus, workers there see the university’s response as a threat to workers there. the entire CPU system.
“If members of our university community are massacred and beaten for peacefully protesting, our ability to organize collectively as workers and our fundamental right to free speech and protest on any issue are threatened. »
Fournier said academic workers at the university will continue their walkouts over the coming months until the university resolves allegations of unfair labor practices.
“If they refuse to do so, other campuses could be called if necessary. Workers on every campus are extremely enthusiastic about this,” they said. “This is a statewide problem. Even if we are the ones leading the charge. It seems very likely that other campuses will follow suit until these unfair labor practices are resolved.
Earlier this week, the California Federation of Labor voted to sanction the union with strike action, a designation that encourages other unions and their members to honor any potential picket lines if their contracts allow them to do so.
“It’s an act of solidarity, it’s a symbol and a message for all workers in California,” said Lorena Gonzalez, president of the federation and former state lawmaker. “Whether you agree or disagree with what the protesters were doing, the big question is should workers be retaliated against for their right to free speech and protest?
Experts say the union is taking a new approach in its strike because it is not about contract issues but about free speech.
The union complaint focuses on arrests of pro-Palestinian graduate students protesting at UCLA and suspensions and other disciplinary actions at UC San Diego and UC Irvine. It accuses universities of retaliating against students and illegally changing workplace policies to suppress pro-Palestinian speech.
In a letter sent to graduate students Wednesday, UC officials warned students against striking.
“Participating in the strike does not change, excuse or modify an employee’s normal duties or expectations. And, unlike a protected strike, you may be subject to corrective action if you fail to perform your duties,” the unsigned letter from the UC President’s Office states.
The letter also defended the use of universities by riot police to disperse protests.
“We have a duty to ensure that all speeches can be heard, that our entire community is safe, and that our properties and common spaces are accessible to all. These duties require UC to take action when protests put the community at risk and violate our shared standards regarding safe behavior and use of public spaces,” he said.
The strike vote comes as campuses across the UC system have seen tensions and protests over the war between Israel and Hamas, including a violent mob attack on a pro-Palestinian encampment at the UCLA and the arrest of 47 protesters at UC Irvine on Wednesday.
UC Riverside and UC Berkeley reached agreements with protesters to end the encampments and consider divestment from arms companies. Leaders of these universities have rejected calls to specifically target Israel or to boycott exchange programs and partnerships with Israeli universities, as some protesters have demanded.
While some Jewish students have supported the pro-Palestinian encampments, domestic Jewish groups have criticized the divestment movement. They say it is anti-Semitic because it aims to delegitimize the only predominantly Jewish nation.
In Santa Cruz, emails and calls from The Times to several Jewish student organizations seeking comment on the strike and pro-Palestinian protests were not immediately returned.
“We are aware of the challenges on campus and are currently focusing all of our attention on supporting students and working with campus administration,” said an automated response from Becka Ross, executive director of the Santa Cruz Hillel.
Times staff writer Suhauna Hussain contributed to this report.
California Daily Newspapers
