Posts tagged UC Santa Cruz
Judge orders University of California workers to end strike protesting response to anti-Israel protests
June 11, 2024 // A California judge ordered University of California academic workers to end their strike after they have been walking picket lines at several campuses in protest of the university system's response to anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses. Orange County Superior Court Judge Randall Sherman handed the ruling down on Friday, according to CNS. The university system filed suit earlier last week aiming to end the strikes by the workers' union, United Auto Workers Local 4811, after two unsuccessful attempts to obtain an injunction against the union from the state Public Employment Relations Board.
OPINION Unionized academic workers go on strike, for what?
June 4, 2024 // The union, which states on its website that it “will not negotiate on behalf of encampment organizers,” has filed multiple complaints against the University of California with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) since the beginning of May, when the university called in law enforcement to break down the “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” at UCLA. By then the initial 30 tents had grown into a massive, self-barricaded site that attracted angry counter-protesters in a violent overnight clash. The union’s complaint listed “workplace demands” that included the “right to opt out of participation in military-funded research,” and the “disclosure and divestment of University funds from Israel’s war effort.” The UAW local also complained that a new discipline policy of an “applicable review process” for employees who are arrested or cited was imposed without “notice or opportunity to bargain.” Further, the union wants the university to “make whole” any employees who were reported for criminal activity by paying their civil fines, attorney fees, bail and damage expenses.
University of California academic workers expand strike over response to pro-Palestinian protests
May 29, 2024 // The union is demanding “amnesty” for all academic employees, students, student groups, faculty and staff who face disciplinary action or arrest due to protest,” along with the protection of free speech and political expression on campus. It is also calling for divestment from UC’s “known investments in weapons manufacturers, military contractors, and companies profiting from Israel’s war on Gaz,” and disclosure of all of the UC system’s funding sources and investments. The union quickly filed an unfair labor practice charge against UCLA following the clashes earlier this month and later submitted similar violations over police action at UC San Diego and UC Irvine encampments.
Student assistants are paid more than lecturers at UC. Ripple effects of 2022 strike
May 21, 2024 // Teaching 56 enrolled students in Elements and Cultures of Hip-Hop, Garland was credited for about 33.3% of a full-time instructional workload, because UC Merced requires lecturers to teach three courses per semester to meet a full-time standard. However, her student teaching assistant was credited 50%, which means getting paid for 20 hours per week, for helping in this class. “It’s ridiculous that somebody could have just graduated from undergrad, but they could be making more money per class than a lecturer with a PhD who has been teaching for five or six years,” Garland said. “It just speaks to the (idea that the) university does not value its teaching.”