{"id":34223,"date":"2024-06-05T14:15:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T21:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=34223"},"modified":"2024-06-05T14:15:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T21:15:09","slug":"uc-and-striking-graduate-students-escalate-labor-dispute-with-fresh-salvos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/06\/05\/uc-and-striking-graduate-students-escalate-labor-dispute-with-fresh-salvos\/","title":{"rendered":"UC and striking graduate students escalate labor dispute with fresh salvos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By\u00a0Nanette Asimov<\/a>,Higher Education ReporterJune 4, 2024 (SFChronicle.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The University of California has sued its\u00a0UAW-backed graduate students\u2019 union to stop the \u201cillegal strike\u201d it says is crippling campuses ahead of finals, while a state labor board gave ground to the students.Brian van der Brug\/TNS<\/em><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stung by a state labor board\u2019s refusal \u2014 twice \u2014 to halt an expanding strike by the University of California\u2019s student workforce, UC is now asking a judge to step in and stop the strike by declaring it illegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UC officials sued the students\u2019 union, the United Auto Workers Local 4811, on Monday in Orange County Superior Court, saying the growing work stoppage<\/a> violates the \u201cno-strike\u201d provisions in the union\u2019s labor contract with UC and will cause \u201cirreparable harm\u201d to the university if it\u2019s allowed to continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UC filed the suit on the same day the state\u2019s Public Employment Relations Board. or PERB,\u00a0denied the university\u2019s request<\/a>\u00a0to halt the strikes. It was the second time the state agency found that UC had not met the legal grounds necessary for an injunction. But in its lawsuit, UC said the reason the agency denied UC\u2019s requests was not because the university was wrong, but because the agency had no power to decide if the union had breached its contract with UC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union represents about 48,000 graduate students who do most teaching, research and grading at UC. Thousands of them have been walking off the job, campus by campus, since May 20<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student workers are striking at six campuses so far: Santa Cruz, Davis, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Diego and Irvine. They want to compel UC to drop disciplinary measures against an unknown number of student workers who participated in pro-Palestinian protests last month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its lawsuit, UC said the strikers \u201chave refused to teach classes, lead discussion sections, conduct research, or otherwise refuse to perform their job duties.\u201d The suit complained that picketers have blocked campus roadways and, at UCLA, \u201cstormed and barricaded themselves into buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThrough its unlawful strike activity, UAW is causing irreparable injury by interfering with the university\u2019s ability to conduct its business and to provide education and community services,\u201d UC told the court and asked for a temporary restraining order to stop it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For its part, the union argues it\u2019s UC that is violating the contract. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Union officials cite violence last month at UCLA, UC Irvine and UC San Diego, where police arrested hundreds of student protesters demonstrating against Israel\u2019s war in Gaza. UC\u2019s Office of the President is also investigating what happened at UCLA on May 1, when officials waited hours to intervene after a separate group attacked an encampment with heavy objects and fireworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union says these events, and continuing disciplinary actions by UC campuses against student workers, have created an unsafe work environment<\/a> for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for the lawsuit, \u201cUC continues to shirk accountability for the violence<\/a> it has caused and allowed,\u201d said Rafael Jaime, the union\u2019s president. \u201cUC should respect the law, return to mediation, and resolve their serious unfair labor practices instead of continuing to insist that the rules do not apply to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both sides have accused the other of committing unfair labor practices and have PERB to decide who is right<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, PERB determined that the union\u2019s allegations \u201ccould demonstrate that UC violated state law,\u201d said Felix De La Torre, the agency\u2019s top lawyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next step will be a hearing where the union will have a chance to present its evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reach Nanette Asimov: nasimov@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @NanetteAsimov<\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 4, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Nanette Asimov<\/a><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

HIGHER EDUCATION REPORTER<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nanette covers California’s public universities – the University of California and California State University – as well as community colleges and private universities. She’s written about sexual misconduct at UC and Stanford, the precarious state of accreditation at City College of San Francisco, and what happens when the UC Berkeley student government discovers a gay rights opponent in its midst. She has exposed a private art college where students rack up massive levels of debt (one student’s topped $400k), and covered audits peering into UC finances, education lawsuits and countless student protests.

But writing about higher education also means getting a look at the brainy creations of students and faculty: Robotic suits that help paralyzed people walk. Online collections of folk songs going back hundreds of years. And innovations touching on everything from virtual reality to baseball.

Nanette is also covering the COVID-19 pandemic and served as health editor during the first six months of the crisis, which quickly ended her brief tenure as interim investigations editor.

Previously, Nanette covered K-12 education. Her stories led to changes in charter school laws, prompted a ban on Scientology in California public schools, and exposed cheating and censorship in testing.

A past president of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northern California chapter, Nanette has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and a B.A. in sociology from Queens College. She speaks English and Spanish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: https:\/\/www.sfchronicle.com\/california\/article\/uc-striking-grad-students-escalate-labor-dispute-19495504.php?utm_content=cta&sid=53b8a5219dbcd4db6500018b&ss=P&st_rid=null&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=headlines&utm_campaign=sfc_morningfix<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Nanette Asimov,Higher Education ReporterJune 4, 2024 (SFChronicle.com) The University of California has sued its\u00a0UAW-backed graduate students\u2019 union to stop the \u201cillegal strike\u201d it says is crippling campuses ahead of finals, while a state labor board gave ground to the students.Brian van der Brug\/TNS Stung by a state labor board\u2019s refusal \u2014… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34225,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34223\/revisions\/34225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}