Strike of student assistants at UC officially ends

The University of California and its student employee union agreed Thursday to officially end the union’s strike, nearly a month after an Orange County Superior Court judge granted the university’s request for a temporary restraining order halting the labor action.

The United Auto Workers 4811 union, which represents 48,000 student workers at UC’s 10 campuses and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has voted to strike in protest against the use of police at several campuses to arrest pro-Palestinian demonstrators and clear encampments.

The strike began at UC Santa Cruz on May 20, then spread to six other UC campuses and was approved by the union to last through June 30.

The court’s temporary injunction was initially in effect from June 7 to 27, but the parties agreed on Thursday to extend the injunction until the originally planned end of the strike on June 30.

Rebecca Gross, the chair of UAW Unit 4811 at UCSC, said she was pleased with the impact of the strike on the unit, but was disappointed that the UC sought a preliminary injunction in court because the UC bypassed the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) process. The public sector labor board had previously denied two requests by the university to end the strike.

She added that the union agreed to the expanded injunction – essentially ending its strike early – in exchange for the university dropping its request for an injunction to prevent the student workers from striking until the end of their contracts – which expire in 2027.

“I wish it hadn’t turned out that way. I wish we could have gone on strike without these – for lack of a better phrase – shoddy legal hurdles that I think were used in a really shady way,” Gross said. “But I’m also really proud to be a member of the UAW at UC Santa Cruz and at the state level.”

Gross said she does not yet know whether the union will seek to resume the strike next school year because there have been no discussions within the union’s board of directors about calling another vote in the fall to authorize a strike.

Missy Matella, UC’s assistant vice president for systemwide employee and labor relations, said in a statement that the university is still awaiting a decision on the legality of the strike.

“While we are relieved that this strike is over, we still want to gain clarity that our no-strike clauses are enforceable and that we can rely on our contracts to ensure industrial peace throughout the term of our agreements,” she said.

The next hearing in Orange County Superior Court on UC’s lawsuit accusing the union of breach of contract is scheduled for Nov. 8. At the same time, the Public Employment Relations Board continues to review allegations of unfair labor practices brought by the university and the union.

Gross said a PERB hearing will take place in August and the union expects the results in early fall.

“I am quite certain that PERB will conclude that we did nothing illegal with this authorized strike against unfair labor practices,” she said.

Last week, UCSC’s union made an offer to the school’s administration to make up about 5,000 unfinished grades from the spring quarter. In return, the university would drop charges against more than 100 people arrested at the Gaza solidarity camp on May 30 and 31.

The university rejected the offer, saying it does not negotiate with union members at the campus level, only at the state level. Gross said the union’s offer was not a negotiation and many grades are not yet ready. According to UCSC policy, grades will become pass/fail grades if they are not ready by July 17.

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