UC has refused to resolve their ULPs. More campuses are preparing to strike.
Oakland, CA – California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has asked the University of California and UAW Local 4811 to sit down and work through a series of Unfair Labor Practices the union has filed that are currently animating a Stand Up strike across the state. Despite PERB offering a resolution process, UC has refused to engage to date. Meanwhile, 2,000 workers at UC Santa Cruz are walking picket lines, and tens of thousands of workers at other campuses are preparing to strike.
“We are open to sitting down with UC to resolve these Unfair Labor Practices,” said Rafael Jaime, president of UAW 4811, the union that represents 48,000 workers at ten campuses and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “We stand ready to reach resolution on these ULPs. Academic workers’ first priority is to guarantee our rights and the rights of our coworkers. We’re disappointed that UC has refused to engage in PERB’s resolution process.”
Resolution of the unfair labor practices must include amnesty for those who experienced arrest or are facing University discipline as a result of participation in peaceful pro-Palestine protests, and negotiations with the union over the numerous workplace changes and policy changes the University made as part of its crackdown on political speech on campus.
Instead of coming to a resolution, President Drake has committed additional Unfair Labor Practices by issuing a new system-wide policy that all protestors must be subjected to the student conduct and employee discipline processes after being arrested. This new policy was not negotiated with the union and goes to the heart of the union’s collective bargaining agreement with UC by bypassing the due process of the agreed-upon grievance process. UC is taking the law into its own hands to crush freedom of speech on University campuses and it must stop.
“We’re extremely disappointed at UC’s intransigence. PERB has opened a path to resolve the crisis in the UC system, and UC management is refusing to take it. That’s why we’re filing another ULP charge today, and restating our openness to sit down and resolve this situation at PERB. If UC does not resolve these ULPs, our union’s Executive Board will announce the next of the campuses to Stand Up no later than Friday.”
UAW 4811 represents 48,000 academic workers at UC, who together power UC’s research and academic mission. Members perform the majority of teaching at UC, grade papers and perform cutting-edge research that generates billions in annual funding for instruction and research.
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