UC once again fails to obtain court order to end university workers’ strike

For the second time, the state labor board has refused to order an immediate end to the UC university workers’ strike, which has resulted in canceled classes, blocked parking lots and suspended courses for thousands of people at a crucial time of the year when students take their exams.

The state Employment Public Relations Board ruled Monday that the university, in its legal filings, had failed to meet the high legal standard of causing “irreparable harm” required for the labor board to approve an injunction. The walkout affected the University of California campuses in Santa Cruz, Davis and Los Angeles. The strike expanded to UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego on Monday and is expected to expand to UC Irvine on Wednesday.

“As instructed by the Board, the request for injunctive relief in the above-mentioned matter is denied without prejudice, and therefore sufficient cause has not been shown,” wrote J. Felix De La Torre, general counsel for the employment board , announcing Monday’s decision. to both parties.

United Auto Workers Local 4811 represents 48,000 graduate teaching assistants, researchers and other academic workers across UC’s 10 campuses and Lawrence Berkeley Lab.. Union workers lead discussion groups, grade assignments, conduct research and administer exams, among other responsibilities.

The ruling does not resolve the question of whether the strike is legal. This larger issue will be resolved through a slower process that will likely last beyond the strike. Both sides are also in mediation, which could potentially end the strike, through a settlement, before its scheduled conclusion on June 30.

Last week, the labor board filed a complaint against the union based on the UC’s allegation that the walkout is illegal because of a “no-strike” clause in the union contract. The complaint triggers a process in which both parties will present their arguments. The complaint states the labor board’s view that if the facts presented by UC prove true, then the strike could be declared illegal.

But this is a deliberation that is moving slowly: both parties have until mid-June to submit the documents.

The university had sought a quicker solution, seeking an injunction to end the strike, saying the walkout was causing “irreparable” harm.

“At UC Santa Cruz, UCLA and UC Davis alone, more than 9,000 UAW members teach more than 5,130 undergraduate courses, seminars, discussion sections and laboratory sections . These classes have literally hundreds of thousands of students enrolled – students who have paid tuition for a full quarter of instruction and, in many cases, whose grades and academic futures depend on the success of their course,” UC said in its filing seeking the injunction.

John Logan, a professor in the department of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University, said the labor board’s decision would put UC officials “under intense pressure – both from the university and from external political pressure – to negotiate with the union to end the strike.”

UAW 4811 went on strike last month after alleging its members’ free speech rights were violated by UC actions during pro-Palestinian protests and encampment crackdowns , among other accusations.

Police entered the UC Santa Cruz campus Friday morning, ordering protesters to disperse. Such police actions on other campuses have provided the basis for the union’s claims that workers’ rights have been violated — and that these alleged violations constitute an unfair labor practice, providing legal justification for the current walkout.

As with any strike, the objective was to put pressure on the institution by disrupting the status quo. According to UAW 4811, work stoppage is a standard and legally protected union activity.

“Management clearly knows that our work is necessary for the functioning of the university,” union President Rafael Jaime said before Monday’s decision. “If they want this work to resume, they should seriously engage in the PERB mediation process and stop wasting public time and resources on legal maneuvering.”

Just a week ago, the state labor board — which oversees relations and actions between labor and management — ruled that the strike could continue, while allowing the university to submit evidence additional measures to try to meet the high legal standards necessary for external intervention.

The strikers blame the disruption on the university for the events leading up to the strike as well as the delay in resolving it.

While unions typically strike over wages and benefits, this walkout was very different because of the intertwining of political issues beyond standard contract issues.

Striking university workers at UCLA, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz this week chanted “workers’ rights under attack,” referring to pro-Palestinian union activists who were arrested and suspended after recent protests. Some on the picket line wore kaffiyehs, traditional headscarves used to express solidarity with the Palestinians.

Others waved Palestinian flags, shouting “Free Palestine” and insisted that the unions demand that the UC sever its ties with Israel and the war in Gaza and grant all protesters amnesty from the discipline on campus.

Another demand of the union is that the researchers it represents receive transition funding so that they can withdraw from “funding sources linked to the military or the oppression of Palestinians.” That would include those working for departments that received a portion of the $333 million the University of California received last year from the Department of Defense.