Academic workers for the University of California (UC) school system are officially on strike after alleging the university system violated their rights during pro-Palestinian protests last month. On April 30, pro-Palestinian protesters and counterprotesters clashed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus. Police dismantled the pro-Palestinian encampments and arrested nearly 200 protesters.
United Auto Workers Local 4811, representing over 48,000 workers from the University of California system, filed charges with the state labor board on May 10. The union claims that the university unlawfully changed workplace policies to suppress anti-war speech.
The state labor board noted that the union contract includes a no-strike provision.
“If a strike is allowed for political and social disputes, the associated work stoppages would significantly impact UC’s ability to deliver on its promises to its students, community and the state of California,” the UC Office of the President said in a statement.
Last week, nearly 80% of academic workers across UC’s 10 campuses voted in favor of rolling strikes. The workers claimed unfair labor practices when the university allowed police to remove encampments and arrest peaceful protesters.
The union said the UC school system called armed police officers to “violently eject and arrest peaceful protesters.” The union is seeking amnesty for those arrested or facing disciplinary action, citing freedom of speech concerns.
“TAs are not going to be submitting grades,” Kaia Shah, a spokesperson for the protest, said. “They’re not going to be performing their labor that the university relies on. The TAs are part of the backbone of this university, and by withholding their labor, they’re sending a very clear message to the university that they refuse to participate in day-to-day operations of this university while we remain complicit in the genocide in Gaza.”
Last week, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block testified before Congress about rising antisemitism on UCLA’s campus since the Israel-Hamas war started. He admitted that in hindsight, moving pro-Palestinian encampments off-campus could have prevented violence. During questioning, Block defended calling police to dismantle protests.
Block is retiring as chancellor this July.