Rebecca Gross is a grad student representative of the UAW, which is currently on strike across three UC Campuses including UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis and UCLA. She talks about the reasons for the strike, the situation of protesters mixing with strikers and blockading the entrance to campus, and other thorny issues surrounding the strike as the quarter moves toward its close and graduation looms. This morning police moved in to confront protesters blocking the main campus intersection at Bay and High Streets, arresting many.
Here is the latest (as of 5-31-24) from the UAW regarding the strike.
UAW ACADEMIC WORKERS AT UC SANTA BARBARA, UC SAN DIEGO AND UC IRVINE WILL STAND UP AND WALK OFF THE JOB NEXT WEEK
Rally and picket line information is forthcoming.
The Executive Board of UAW Local 4811, which represents 48,000 academic workers across the UC system, has called on three additional campuses to Stand Up and join the union’s ULP Strike. UC Santa Barbara, UC San Diego and UC Irvine are the third round of campuses to participate. Academic workers at UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego will walk off the job starting Monday, June 3rd, and academic workers at UC Irvine will join them on Wednesday, June 5th. UAW 4811 represents 3,000 workers at UC Santa Barbara, 8,000 workers at UC San Diego and 5,000 workers at UC Irvine. They will join their colleagues at UC Santa Cruz, UCLA and UC Davis to bring the total number of workers called on to 31,500.
On May 13-15, academic workers across the UC system voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike in response to egregious Unfair Labor Practices that UC has committed, including summoning militarized police officers from numerous outside law enforcement to violently eject and arrest peaceful pro-Palestine protesters at UCLA, UC Irvine, and UC San Diego; making unilateral changes to standards for employee discipline, free speech rights and academic freedom; and disciplining and suspending employees engaged in peaceful protest.
The expansion of the strike is in response to UC’s failure to remedy these serious unfairs, despite opportunities for UC to work towards resolution.
“For the last month, UC has used and condoned violence against workers and students peacefully protesting on campus for peace and freedom in Palestine,” said Rafael Jaime, the President of Local 4811. “Rather than put their energies into resolution, UC is attempting to halt the strike through legal procedures. They have not been successful, and this strike will roll on. We are united in our demand that UC address these serious ULPs, beginning with dropping all criminal and conduct charges that have been thrown at our members because they spoke out against injustice.”
Dozens of academic workers are still facing criminal and/or disciplinary charges after UC summoned police to arrest peaceful protesters at UCLA, UCSD and UCI between May 1 and May 15. Many have been told by UC that they are barred from campus, including campus housing and classes they may teach or attend.
“The Regents’ brutal response to the peaceful protests has left a stain on the University’s legacy, and physical scars on many of its students and workers — myself included” said Elliot Yu, a graduate worker at UC Irvine who lost both access to his home and the full functioning of his hands after he was arrested while visiting a rally to offer first aid to injured people. “But they can still reverse course and seek resolution to their unlawful crackdown on union members’ rights and discrimination against protesters for Palestine.”
“UC has unilaterally changed their policies on employee speech and discipline, without giving our union notice or negotiating these changes,” said Tessa Cookmeyer, a postdoctoral scholar at UC Santa Barbara. “UC then used these changed policies to not only arrest and injure dozens of our coworkers, but also ban many of them from their workplaces and homes. What’s at stake here are our core rights as workers and union members, and the ability of anyone in the UC community to take part in this historic movement for justice in Palestine.”
“Our students and colleagues understand that when someone treats you unfairly, you have to stand up for yourself. You have to stand up for what you believe in,” said Sean Pike, a postdoctoral scholar at UC San Diego. “We cannot accept discrimination, violence, discipline and unlawful changes to our working conditions. We have to protect our fundamental employment rights.”
Rally and picket line information is forthcoming. Visit us online and on social media for updates.
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Bergen Kenny Woodbury
BrightLine Communications
And here is a letter from Chancellor Larive of UCSC as of 5-28
May 31, 2024
Dear UC Santa Cruz Community,
I write this morning to share with you that after repeated unanswered calls to have the unlawful encampment voluntarily disband and remove the dangerous blockade from the campus entrance, we made the decision to request law enforcement to remove the blockade and encampment. Law enforcement removed the barricade and the encampment; however, some demonstrators remain at the main entrance of campus. We continue to ask the campus and the community to avoid that area.
We understand there is much grief, anger, and frustration about the events that continue to unfold in Gaza and Israel, and the immense suffering of innocent people. I believe that many who have engaged in these protests over these many weeks are well-intentioned and attempting to make change through their spheres of influence. Unfortunately, the disruptions we experienced these weeks were harmful to others in our community. This decision was not made because individuals demonstrated; it was because they have chosen to do so through unlawful actions.
The road blockades, with fortified and chained barricades made of pallets and other materials, and other unlawful actions disrupted campus operations and threatened safety, including delaying access of emergency vehicles. We have attempted to avoid conflict or the involvement of law enforcement to address the encampment disruptions over the past month. We have consistently communicated to encampment organizers that campus safety and security are our highest priorities. In one particularly worrisome incident Tuesday, an emergency medical vehicle was prevented from entering a facility in which a toddler was in distress. Minutes and seconds can be the difference between life and death in an emergency. Actions such as this demonstrate a continued lack of regard for our campus community.
Since the encampment began, first at the Quarry Plaza and then at the main entrance, participants have been given repeated, clear directions to address safety issues, cease camping and cease blocking access to numerous campus resources and to the campus itself. Early this morning, they were also given multiple warnings by law enforcement to leave the area and disband to avoid arrest. Unfortunately, many refused to follow this directive and a number of individuals were arrested.
Having law enforcement remove the unlawful encampment from campus is not an action we wanted to take or have taken lightly. For the past month, we have sought to de-escalate campus disruptions and road blockades, and encouraged the voluntary disbanding of the unlawful encampments. The individuals at the encampments have been repeatedly informed about the policies that their actions violated. They continued to ignore university directives, including those related to safety, and have sought conflict, actively escalating tensions within our campus community, harming those who are simply trying to learn, teach, and do their jobs in support of our educational mission.
Despite negotiating in good faith over the course of a full week when the encampment first began at the Quarry Plaza in an effort to reach its voluntary removal, we were unable to come to an agreement that was within our authority and aligned with the values of UC Santa Cruz. As the chancellor for the entire university, I must be firm when the demands of one group undermine the rights of others. In this case, the demonstrators demanded that we end relationships with organizations that support our Jewish students and funders that support important student success work and happen to be Jewish organizations. They demanded that UC Santa Cruz divest from and boycott companies affiliated with Israel, a demand that the UC Office of the President has already addressed and deemed unacceptable. Most worryingly, they demanded that we curtail the foundational right of academic freedom by condemning the use of funding from select federal agencies. Functionally, the encampment wanted to prevent our researchers from pursuing research related to topics with which they disagree. This is a dangerous precedent and to give in to it would undermine academic freedom and make our academic community vulnerable to the values of whatever political force seeks to prevent free inquiry.
As we have shared in previous messages, we continue to be ardent supporters of free speech. While some actions by individuals fall within First Amendment protection, many other activities over the past weeks did not, and should be called what they were: unlawful disruptions, vandalism, and intentional harming of our community. Because of this morning’s events, the campus community will continue to notice a higher presence of law enforcement on campus.
We know there will be disagreement about this decision and the steps taken to support campus safety. However, our ultimate responsibility is for the safety and well-being of this campus. It was a necessary decision at a critical time.
Rachel is host of Talk of the Bay and Board Chair of KSQD. She is the producer of radio documentaries such as Southern Songbirds: The Women of Early Country and Old Time Music, The Boomtown Chronicles, and Pastures of Plenty, a History of California Farmworkers. She teaches journalism at Cabrillo College in Aptos. She is a recipient of a Peabody award for excellence in journalism.
