UC Santa Cruz Graduate Student Workers Go On Strike

Hundreds of graduate student workers at the University of California Santa Cruz went on strike Monday in response to the UC system’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests, their union announced Monday.

United Auto Workers Local 4811, which represents academic workers, said the walkout was aimed at the university’s “unlawful behavior,” including summoning the police to “forcibly arrest and eject” demonstrators ― actions the union maintains violate their rights as workers.

It was not clear how long the strike would last or whether it would spread to other campuses in the UC system.

“For many months, workers across California have protested the death, destruction and human suffering in Gaza,” the union said in a video statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Over the last two weeks, UC has allowed appalling violence and intimidation against members of our academic community who exercised their right to protest.”

UC Santa Cruz said through a spokesperson that the university’s primary goal was to did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday ”to minimize the disruptive impact” of the strike.

“Academic and operational continuity is essential to the University of California’s education and research mission and a core responsibility to our students,” the school said.

The union, which represents 48,000 graduate students and other academic workers, recently took a strike authorization vote in which 79% were in favor of a walkout if leadership thought it was necessary. It said the vote was about “the right to free speech and to peaceful protest without fear of intimidation and reprisal.”

Protests critical of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza have sprung up on dozens of college campuses across the U.S. in