June 20, 2024
Why University of California Workers Stopped Their Historic Strike
By Finn Cooley
Nearly 80 percent of participating union members voted in support of the strike on May 1, citing the repression of pro-Palestine protesters at UCLA, UCSD, and UCI.
AMBER X. CHEN and ELLA CARTER-KLAUSCHIE
After nearly a month of historic solidarity in support of pro-Palestine student protesters, University of California (UC) academic workers have been ordered by an Orange County Superior Court judge to pause their strike.
The temporary restraining order comes after the University of California filed a lawsuit against UAW 4811—which represents academic workers across the system—citing a breach of the UAW’s contract and arguing that the union cannot strike over “non-labor” issues.
“The blatant breach of the parties’ no-strike clauses by UAW will continue to cause irreversible harm to the University as it will disrupt the education of thousands of students in the form of canceled classes and delayed grades,” said Melissa Matella, associate vice president for Systemwide Labor Relations, in a statement released by the UC Office of the President. “The breach of contract also endangers life-saving research in hundreds of laboratories across the University and will also cause the University substantial monetary damages.”
However, UC workers have made it clear that their efforts had everything to do with their labor rights.
