A strike is underway within the University of California (UC) system — with UCLA, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz all now participating — as unionized graduate student workers take collective action to protest the brutalization and repression of fellow union members and Palestine solidarity protesters.
With academic employees unionized with the United Auto Workers (UAW) walking out at all three schools, the UC administration has found itself contending with the consequences of its decision to invite state aggression upon its own students as they protested the ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Those consequences appear to be piling up, with additional union workforces at UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara set to join the strike on Monday, and UC Irvine workers walking off the job on Wednesday, according to UAW 4881.
Unions know that what’s done to students and gazans today will be done to them tomorrow.
Does anyone know if other unions work on these campuses? If so, how are they responding to these strikes? Some support from other unions would probably mean a lot right now.
I am a UC employee, our union informed us that we’re currently not allowed to do a sympathy strike and that they are going to be fighting this contract clause so we could.
Genuine question: What concessions do they want from the university administration? It’s not like the university can do very much anyway, maybe just condemn the war and send humanitarian aid.
