University Of California Tries To Force Striking Graduate Students Back To Work

The University of California has asked the state for an injunction to force striking graduate students back to work.

Hundreds of grad students at UC Santa Cruz walked off the job Monday in protest of the university system’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Their union, United Auto Workers Local 4811, has warned that the walkouts could soon spread to other campuses across the state.

The university asked the state labor relations board on Tuesday to enjoin the strike, arguing that the work stoppage is illegal.

If the request succeeds, the strikers would lose legal protections should they refuse to return to work.

“UAW’s strike is unlawful because the goal is to pressure the University to concede to a list of politically motivated demands,” the university said in a statement.

The grad students have accused the university of committing unfair labor practices by bringing in police to arrest demonstrators opposed to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. Police tore down pro-Palestinian encampments and made more than 200 arrests at UCLA and 47 at UC Irvine earlier this month.

When it filed charges against the university on May 3, the union alleged UCLA “shamefully allowed and condoned a violent attack” on demonstrators by counter-protestors. It has cast the strike as a fight over “the right to free speech and to peaceful protest without fear of intimidation and reprisal.”

Students and faculty on campuses across the country have pushed back against their schools’ crackdown on demonstrations related to Gaza. But in California, the university is facing off with an especially large and assertive union of 48,000 that isn’t new to work stoppages. Academic workers in California also hit the picket lines for six