University of California will strike 31,500 strong over repression of student Palestine movements
Around 31,500 university workers were set strike together this week across the University of California (UC) in solidarity with Palestine protesters.
They are battling university bosses who call cops onto campus to violently repress pro-Palestinian student actions.
Workers at two campuses—UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego— joined the strike on Monday of this week. UC Irvine workers are set to join on Wednesday.
They’ll join UAW 4811 union members at UC Santa Cruz, who have been on strike for two weeks, and members at UCLA and UC Davis who have been on strike for a week.
Rafael Jaime, the president of UAW 4811, said, “For the last month, UC has used and condoned violence against workers and students peacefully protesting on campus for peace and freedom in Palestine.
“Rather than put their energies into resolution, UC is attempting to halt the strike through legal procedures. They have not been successful, and this strike will roll on.”
The workers’ strike is feeding into and inspiring more student action. There were big student protests at UC Santa Cruz, which included road blockades, last Sunday.
But students were again beaten by the cops, who university bosses had called to suppress protests.
UAW 4811 is demanding that administrations grant amnesty to students and workers who have taken part in Palestine protests so they won’t face disciplinary measures or arrest.
“UC has unilaterally changed their policies on employee speech and discipline, without giving our union notice or negotiating these changes,” said Tessa Cookmeyer, a postdoctoral scholar at UC Santa Barbara.
“UC then used these changed policies to not only arrest and injure dozens of our coworkers but also ban many of them from their workplaces and homes. What’s at stake here are our core rights as workers and union members,” she added.
The bosses at UC are still calling the cops onto campus to repress Palestine protests. This means that UAW workers must continue to escalate their strike and call on their union to call out all 48,000 members at UC.
