UAW Workers at UC Campuses Strike Over University Crackdown on Pro-Palestine Protesters

Following what many saw as an unforgivable and unlawful use of force to disperse student protesters during multiple peaceful encampments and marches since late April at the University of California at Los Angeles and others, United Auto Workers Local 4811 voted earlier this month to authorize a strike across the entire university system.

The workers are walking in protest because excessive use of force against peaceful protests carried out by academic workers and students in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, and against fascist Israel’s genocidal war against them. They are also standing up for the rights of the many hundreds of students who have been forced by the universities to halt their protests, often with armed police hauling them away. Many of those students were suspended or expelled despite that they were just exercising their constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of assembly.

Following the vote to authorize strikes against the schools, the first of the UC-affiliated UAW groups went on strike at the University of California at Santa Cruz beginning a week ago, on May 19. Over 2,000 academic workers represented by the union were called to participate in the walkout. Those 2,000 represent 10% of the roughly 20,000 students enrolled at the school.

The strike at UC Davis was what the union refers to as a “stand-up” strike. It was modeled after what the UAW as a whole considers to be one of their most successful strike actions ever, when last year they executed a limited-coverage strike at only a few targeted auto manufacturing plants rather than immediately disabling work simultaneously at all UAW-supported plants across the U.S. The UAW believes the narrow coverage of that strike delivered the necessary strong message to the big three automakers in the U.S., while keeping things small enough so discussions towards a more acceptable new contract for all workers could happen more easily.

The workers in this first strike of its kind walked off their jobs with demands aligned in clear solidarity with the students protesting in favor of a “free Palestine” and the immediate end to the war in Gaza. The union called for immediate reinstatement of all students suspended or otherwise subjected to disciplinary action for their part in the protests, dropping of all criminal charges against them, and expunging disciplinary and criminal records associated with the university crackdowns.

The union also threatened to expand their walkout across the rest of the UC campuses if their demands were not met by the end of last week.

Rafael Jaime, a graduate student at UCLA and co-president of UAW Local 4811, issued a statement summarizing the importance of that first strike venue.

“At the heart of this is our right to free speech and peaceful protest,” Jaime said. “If members of the academic community are maced and beaten down for peacefully demonstrating on this issue, our ability to speak up on all issues is threatened.”

After the workers at UC Santa Cruz began their walkout, the University of California swung into action challenging the legality of the strike.

“UAW’s decision to strike over non-labor 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,” wrote the University of California’s Associate Vice President of Systemwide labor Relations Melissa Matella in a statement issued by her office after the strike began.

Rebecca Gross, the unit chair of UAW Local 4811 at the University of California at Santa Cruz and a teaching assistant there, countered that with her own statement also issued on May 19.

“We are really disturbed to see what happened to our members at UCLA, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine,” she said. “We feel strongly this strike is legal.”

Attempts at talks between academic workers’ union and universities officials went nowhere last week, as both sides dug in on their positions and there was no sign of any compromise by week’s end.

On Thursday, union co-president Jaime announced the strike at UN Santa Cruz would expand to the University of California at Los Angeles and UC Davis beginning on May 28.

“The University of California has taken many actions to crackdown on free speech and protest on campus. In that process they’ve committed serious unfair labor practices,” he said. “This strike is a response to UC’s unlawful actions that have been impacted our rights as academic workers.”

Almost immediately after Jaime announced the broadened walkout, Heather Hansen, a spokesperson representing the entire University of California system, reinforced the UC’s tough stance regarding the unlawful nature of the union’s action.

Noting that what the union is protesting involves “issues that have no bearing on employment at UC”, she said that “The University remains disappointed that the UAW is engaging in an illegal strike in violation of our contract’s mutually agreed no-strike clauses.”

Despite the university’s contention that the strike is illegal, the UC collective’s filing for an injunction denying workers the right to strike was struck down by in court last week, paving the way – for now – for the strike at UC Santa Cruz to continue and to expand further across the state.

That court ruling came following the Los Angeles Police Department having shut down another pro-Palestinian protest at the University of California at Los Angeles the same day.

As dawn broke on May 23, the UCLA chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) established the second of their Solidarity Encampments on the campus. The LAPD immediately declared the encampment against the law, then swooped in, joined by additional officers from the cities of Beverly Hills, Culver City, and Santa Monica.

Together, all suited in full riot gear and carrying batons and guns, formed a human wall around the students, first blocking access to anyone attempting either to join the encampment or join it. The police then followed up by preventing food or water to enter the protest area, in an eerie parallel with Israel’s early policy to prevent all food, water, fuel, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid into much of Gaza beginning in November and December 2023.

The police ended up forcibly ejecting the students from their encampments and protest lines. 

Just as that was happening, the Executive Board of UAW Local 4811 called on academic workers at UCLA and UC Davis to strike on Tuesday, May 28, as the next step in the expanding UC walkouts challenging the universities’ actions against their students.

Just a few hours later after the call for the wider strike, UAW Local 4811’s Rafael Jaime and over 100 others representing the union joined approximately 300 students at an impromptu rally at 1 PM in support of the students who were just forced out of their protest camp. He also called at UCLA for continuing their “unfair labor practices” (ULPs) in cracking down on students which include workers who are part of the union.

“UC has had many chances to resolve its egregious ULPs and it has thus far refused to engage,” Jaime said.
“Now two more campuses are walking out. UCLA and UC Davis—it’s time to Stand Up.”

Assuming the strike rolls out as planned, it could eventually force a work stoppage of up to 48,000 non-professorial academic workers across the ten universities in the UC clusters across the state. That includes teaching assistants, graduate students, post-doctoral candidates, and other academic workers who receive at least part-time pay from the universities for their various duties.

Assuming no settlement with the union by the end of Memorial Day, the walkout at UCLA could be the most crippling yet for the UC schools as they finish final activities before grades are issued at the end of the year and graduation ceremonies are held. With over 46,000 students enrolled at the campus and many thousands of academic workers who are part of UAW Local 4811 expected to honor the call to strike, university officials are already bracing for what is about to happen.