UC-AFT Files Unfair Labor Practice Complaint Against UC

The University Council-American Federation of Teachers announced Thursday that it had filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the university.

UC-AFT — a union representing 6,500 UC librarians and non-tenured faculty — filed suit Wednesday, saying the university failed to maintain safe working conditions, failed to comply with the professors’ right to free speech and had not consulted union members when making decisions regarding online use. instruction after protests at UCLA and UC San Diego.

This accusation could also lead to a strike authorization vote in the future, UC-AFT President Katie Rodger said in the press release.

“This ULP aims to strengthen the protections our members have to continue to express their free speech and make our campuses safer,” Rodger said in the press release. “We will continue to discuss together the possibilities of future industrial action.”

With this decision, UC-AFT joins United Auto Workers Local 4811 – which represents graduate students – in filing a ULP violation complaint against the UC administration. UAW Local 4811 filed its complaint May 3 regarding law enforcement’s use of force against union members during the cleanup of the UCLA Palestine Solidarity Camp.

UAW Local 4811 announced Wednesday that its members had voted to authorize a strike if its leaders deemed it necessary, with 79 percent of participating union members voting in favor.

UC-AFT also said in the press release that the University failed in its responsibility as an employer by allowing law enforcement to use force against students and faculty members.

“Several union members were arrested while trying to protect their students from violent police reactions in the camps,” the union said in the statement. “The university violated written policies and practices intended to maintain a safe environment for students and employees by sending hundreds of armed riot police to disrupt protests. »

The union alleged that UC failed to heed policies aimed at limiting the use of force in response to campus protests, according to the filing. Specifically, the union claimed that UC violated its 2021 Community Safety Plan by using force against pro-Palestinian protesters, including faculty members, during the sweep of the UCLA camp.

“The University will reinforce existing guidelines that minimize police presence during protests, follow de-escalation methods in cases of violence, and first seek non-emergency mutual aid from UC campuses before calling the outside law enforcement,” the UC community safety plan states.

UC-AFT also claimed that the UCLA administration violated its responsibilities as an employer by failing to inform the union that classes would be canceled on May 1 following a violent attack on the camp and that they would be put online on May 2 and 3 after the sweep of the camp.

According to ULP, employees were also not allowed access to their offices in Moore Hall if they could not provide a university ID and building key.

Heather Hansen, a spokeswoman for the UC Office of the President, said in an emailed statement that the university believes it has not breached its contract with UC-AFT.

“The University has not breached its contract with UC-AFT,” Hansen said in the statement. “We look forward to working with the AFT and PERB (the California Public Employment Relations Board) to resolve the union’s concerns.”