Dive Brief:
- The University of California Santa Cruz switched to online instruction on its main campus Tuesday and Wednesday, citing safety concerns related to ongoing pro-Palestinian protests and labor activity.
- UC Santa Cruz members of UAW 4811 — a union representing around 48,000 academic and graduate student researchers, postdoctoral scholars and student employees across the University of California system — went on strike Monday over the system’s handling of pro-Palestinian protesters.
- The university made the call to go remote after student protesters and union members blocked a road early Monday near UC Santa Cruz’s campus for “a significant period of time,” according to university officials.
Dive Insight:
Even as the academic year winds down, college leaders are still navigating mass campus protests calling for divestment from Israel-affiliated companies and weapons manufacturers over the Israel-Hamas war.
In UC Santa Cruz’s case, officials directed instructors to coordinate remote class plans with students and told employees to check with managers to see if they are needed on campus.
As of Wednesday, UC Santa Cruz was set to return to in-person instruction Thursday.
Last week, UAW 4811 members overwhelmingly voted in favor of authorizing a strike “in response to UC’s unprecedented acts of intimidation and retaliation directed at our rights as academic employees to free speech, protest, and collective action.”
The UAW has pointed to incidents in early May, when the University of California called in police to remove, and in some cases arrest, protesters on its Los Angeles and San Diego campuses.
“The UC violated its existing policies by summoning the police to eject and arrest non-violent employees engaged in political speech,” the union said, adding that some of its members were among those punished.
The labor union is one of several that have backed pro-Palestinian protesters.
“Our union will not negotiate on behalf of encampment organizers, but we do call on UC to negotiate with them in good faith,” it said in a FAQ. The union chapter has also called for “a ceasefire and de-escalation of the war in Gaza.”
However, UC Santa Cruz officials hit back at the protesters and union members’ tactics.
“Lawful labor activity does not include road blockages,” Chancellor Cynthia Larive and Provost Lori Kletzer said in a joint Monday statement. “Free speech is the right of everyone on our campus, but again, that right does not include the ability to block the road.”
The University of California system has taken legal action against the strike. Last week, it filed an unfair labor practice charge against the union with the California Public Employment Relations Board. The system said its collective bargaining agreement with the local UAW includes a no-strike provision.
On Tuesday, it further petitioned the labor board to end UAW’s strike and said allowing it to continue would cause “irreparable harm” to the system and its students.
“While the University continues to support free speech, lawful protests, and its community’s right to engage in the same, UAW is a labor union and its negotiations with the University must be tied to terms and conditions of employment and terms in the collective bargaining agreement,” the system said in a statement that day.
The university system took a softer tone when addressing the actions of student protesters, disagreeing with UAW 4811’s assessment of the situation.
“UC reiterates our support for free speech and lawful protests and recognizes the seriousness of the concerns its community has raised about the conflict in the Middle East,” it said. “The University has allowed — and will continue to allow — lawful protesting activities surrounding the conflict in the Middle East.”
As of Wednesday, only UAW 4811 members on UC Santa Cruz’s campus are on strike. But the leader of the union chapter said Tuesday that members across the system are preparing to strike if necessary.
The University of California is also facing pressure from another labor group over its handling of the protests. AFSCME 3299, a union representing 30,000 service workers and other employees across the system and its medical centers, filed an unfair practice charge against it on May 16.
The charge said the system did not protect pro-Palestinian activists at the University of California, Los Angeles from violent counterprotesters, a complaint UAW 4811 also levied. It also took issue with the system bringing in police to evict pro-Palestinian protesters.
“The University has actively worked to suppress speech, ignored the economic and safety needs of the frontline workers who make the institution run, and invested billions of dollars in making these problems we seek to solve even worse,” Michael Avant, president of AFSCME 3299, said in a Wednesday statement.