University worker holds ‘Ready to Strike’ rally at UC Santa Barbara

University workers on the UC Santa Barbara campus held a “Ready to Strike” rally on Thursday, May 23, in front of Davidson Library on Arbor Lane to show solidarity with the graduate student protests and undergraduate through the UC system. The rally followed United Auto Workers 4811’s (UAW) authorization on the morning of May 23 to launch university worker strikes at UCLA and UC Davis, scheduled for Tuesday, May 28 .

According to UAW press release 4811, the addition of UCLA and UC Davis was a response to inaction by the UC Board of Trustees to mitigate alleged unfair labor practices, stemming specifically of UC’s decision to employ police to respond to “peaceful protests” supporting Gaza on campuses across the state.

About 200 people attended UCSB’s most recent rally, the majority of whom remained masked as protesters marched from Davidson Library to the Physical Sciences North building. The gathering of university workers also stopped at the liberated area of ​​UCSB – the pro-Palestinian encampment built on May 1 – to show solidarity with student demonstrators engaged in the camp protest.

Protesters chanted at the UC Board of Trustees to denounce allegations of unfair labor practices and welcomed speakers from the local UAW chapter, leaving little doubt about the local’s position regarding strikes.

One speaker shouted in support of colleagues at UCLA and UC Davis – the second and third campuses called to strike following graduate students at UC Santa Cruz, who went on strike for pro-Palestinian supporters from May 20. “should be the fourth campus called to strike,” a statement demonstrating their commitment to the UAW as well as an affirmation to UCSB administrators that the local union is more than willing to join the picket line.

If and when a strike is called for university workers on campus, it will be the UAW union as a whole, but that does not take away from the fervor of university students – including graduate students and teaching assistants – ​​on the UCSB campus.

“What the unified communications system does will shape how the union organizes,” said Madeline Vailhe, president of the University Students and Employees Unit.

“No interaction or outreach from the administration,” Vailhe said, puts the UCSB campus in a position to go on strike.

The scale of the protests on the UCSB campus has been called “unprecedented” according to graduate students involved in the impending strike.

“I’ve never seen such energy before,” Vailhe said. “What the UC does will determine how the (UAW) union organizes in the future,” whether it’s a free speech cause or a labor cause, he said. -she added, which was the catalyst on which the union rallied in 2022.

Vailhe, the campus organizer, said the union has tried to remain neutral in the tumultuous political issue plaguing national politics. That being said, Vailhe reiterated a point of defense and solidarity for student and non-student organizers on UC campuses in the name of free speech and freedom to protest.

“Fundamentally, this is a free speech issue,” cited Vailhe, who added that the union’s activism on campus was “unprecedented” in its ability to rally university workers, professors and undergraduate students.

“I’ve never seen so much energy for a movement that wasn’t economic,” said one graduate student.

According to strike organizers, whatever the UC board decides will determine how the union responds — whether or not it calls for a strike among university workers. from the UCSB campus. And while the UC Santa Barbara administration has chosen not to involve local law enforcement in peaceful protests, other administrations in the UC system – particularly UCLA – have attracted l national attention and sparked sharp criticism of the administration’s decision to delegate the task of shutting down similar protests to local law enforcement. camps and gatherings.

While some campus administrations have engaged in negotiations with strike organizers – notably UC Berkeley – UCSB’s administration has remained “relatively silent” and made little or no effort to engage negotiations, according to Viahle.

So even though a graduate student strike has not been called on the UCSB campus, many university workers believe and advocate for UCSB to join the picket line, striking in solidarity with their colleagues of the UC system who are protesting for a liberated Palestine.

“We are protesting our right to freedom of expression…the right to say whatever we want, whether it is pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli,” Vailhe said.

She added that by calling on the UC to engage with protest stakeholders, UCSB university workers intend for the strike to push administrators on campus and across the system to s Engage with individual campus stakeholders, such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and local chapters of UC Divestment.

Although no strike has been called on the UC Santa Barbara campus, such a strike could be called at any time as authorized by the UAW 4811 Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees should – but not planned – call more campuses to strike. , which will occur suddenly and quickly in order to catch UC campus administrations off guard.

Despite growing public pressure condemning UCSB’s investments in military defense companies such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northup Grumman, the administration has done little to address specific campus-related demands and issues .

“This strike is illegal,” Melissa Matella, associate vice president of systemwide labor relations, said in a statement released by the UC President’s Office on May 16. “The UAW’s decision to strike over non-labor issues violates the no clause of its contracts with the UC and sets a dangerous and far-reaching precedent that social, political and cultural issues – no matter how valid – they – who are not related to work can support a strike.

In response to the strike, the University of California filed an unfair labor practice complaint last week with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board, which investigated the accusation and filed a complaint against the company this Thursday. UAW for what the UC called the union’s “illegal strike activity.” »

“The University is pleased with this expedited action by PERB,” Matella said in a statement Thursday. “We have maintained from the beginning that the UAW’s actions violated our mutually agreed upon contracts. We look forward to seeing a quick and fair resolution to this matter so that our students, faculty, and staff can complete this academic term without further disruption to their education and progress toward graduation.

PERB noted that the UAW and UC have no-strike clauses in their contracts, which state: “During the term of this agreement or any written extension thereof, the University agrees that it will not There will be no lockout on his part. The UAW, on behalf of its officers, agents, and members, agrees that there shall be no strikes, including sympathy strikes, work stoppages or interruptions, or other concerted activities that directly or indirectly interfere with the operations of the University during the term of this agreement or any written extension thereof. The UAW, on behalf of its officers, agents and members, agrees that it will not authorize, assist, encourage, participate in, sanction, ratify, tolerate or support any activity in violation of this article.

The PERB complaint says the UAW “failed to provide sufficient notice of its work stoppage, and failed and refused to meet and confer in good faith, in violation of Section 3571.1(c) of the Government Code.”

An informal settlement meeting between the UC and UAW has been scheduled by PERB for this Friday morning. If no settlement is reached during the mediation session, the matter will then be brought before an administrative judge, where both parties will present evidence and arguments. This formal hearing would not take place “until approximately three to four months after the date of the informal conference,” according to PERB.

Jack Friedman contributed reporting to this story.