Less than two weeks out from UC Irvine’s commencement ceremonies, a strike by graduate student workers and activities by pro-Palestine students and faculty threaten to disrupt business as usual at the university.
On Wednesday, June 5, teaching assistants, academic researchers and other unionized academic workers at UCI are set to join an ongoing strike by graduate student workers across several other campuses in the UC system. The workers, represented by United Auto Workers 4811 authorized the staggered strike — with some campuses striking before others — in mid-May for what they say are unfair labor practices related to how UC officials responded to various pro-Palestinian encampments across campuses, including at UCI.
The union represents about 5,000 student workers at UCI; it is unclear how many will choose to participate in the strike. Local chapter leaders say they will picket Wednesday around Aldrich Hall from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a march and rally around the building sometime in the afternoon. They say they will continue to picket each day of the strike.
UC system officials maintain the work stoppage is unlawful because it violates a no-strike clause in the union’s collective bargaining agreement. A UCI spokesperson said Tuesday the administration is preparing “instruction and business continuity plans to minimize the disruptions and any impacts on students.”
Earlier this week, the California Public Employment Relations Board denied the UC system’s request for an injunction to end the strike. In May, the board issued a complaint against the union for announcing the strike without prior notice to the UC system and without allowing the university to meet and confer over the decision.
The UC system has said it will file a breach of contract action against the UAW in state court as a next step.
The board also issued a complaint this week against the UC system for unilaterally implementing changes to crime prevention, protest and speech policies at some campuses. The board said UCI administrators did not confer with the union before changing discipline and worksite access policies. A PERB complaint is not a final ruling.
The board wrote that on or around May 8, UCI instituted student conduct proceedings, including interim suspension notices, without giving employees proper notice, including a 10-pay period to respond and the opportunity to proceed to a neutral arbitrator, as agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreement. The complaint also says UCI did not meet and confer with the union before making in-person classes remote for May 16 following a pro-Palestine protest at the campus encampment that police responded to, which led to 47 arrests.
UCI officials referred requests for comments to the UC Office of the President, which referred to a previous response sent to the board in which officials said UCI administration was enforcing existing policies and negotiating with students engaged in the encampment on their demands and “had no indication the protests were connected to any labor disputes” or the bargaining agreement.
As UCI’s graduate student workers prepare to strike, pro-Palestine undergraduate groups continue protests of their own. UCI Divest and Students for Justice in Palestine held an on-campus rally Tuesday afternoon calling for the school’s administration to drop disciplinary charges against students involved with last month’s campus encampment and to divest from interests in Israel.
Protestors drove around campus flying Palestinian flags from their cars rooftops and honking to raise awareness for their cause.
A small group of students involved with those groups also protested over the weekend at UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman’s residence – for at least the second time in as many weeks. The student groups are calling for him to resign.
In an Instagram post, they say the groups have symbolically renamed UCI as the People’s University of Gaza. They say the symbolic name change honors Al-Azhar University-Gaza, a Palestinian university bombed late last year by Israeli forces. The Israeli Defense Forces said that at the campus it found a tunnel and military equipment, including parts of rockets and launchers, linked to Hamas.
Meanwhile, the UCI Academic Senate — a governing board of professors — has questioned the decision to call about a dozen law enforcement agencies to help with a response to the pro-Palestine protest May 15 that ended with the breakup of the campus encampment. Gillman and Provost Hal Stern responded to the group’s questions in a 63-page document where they acknowledged they overstated some early descriptions of the nature of the May 15 protest, but stood by the law enforcement response.
The Academic Senate discussed the responses in a confidential meeting Friday closed to the public and media. Members are set to meet again on Thursday.
