On May 13-15, 2024, UAW 4811* union members will vote on whether or not to go on strike for unfair labor practices (ULP). These ULP charges focus on forcible arrest of non-violent political protesters; the unlawful departure and unilateral change of the University from its existing workplace free speech policies without providing notice or bargaining; and violations of the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA).
We write to inform you that, in the eventuality of a strike you have a HEERA-protected right not to cross the picket line and not to pick up struck work.
Our position is that our students and graduate colleagues have the right to protest on campus and to exercise their rights to free speech without retaliation, forcible police intervention, and arrest. We are therefore also inviting you to send a clear signal to UCOP by signing a non-retaliation pledge, which affirms that you will respect university academic workers’ established legal rights to organize and strike, and that you will not retaliate against workers with whom you collaborate.
Non-retaliation is a baseline commitment of faculty solidarity. A ULP strike, should it occur, is lawfully protected, and faculty in supervisory positions are legally obligated to not interfere in workers’ right to organize and strike. Signing this pledge affirms you will not use your authority as faculty to penalize UAW 4811 workers in any way for engaging in this strike.
Broader questions around other implications for faculty, including not taking up struck work, respecting picket lines, or grade withholding are still down the road, and much will hinge on whether a strike moves forward, and if so, how the strike action will take place. Detailed guidelines will be forthcoming from the California University Council of Faculty Associations – CUCFA – as more information becomes available.
*UAW Local 4811 was formerly known as the two unions UAW Local 2865 and UAW Local 5810. The amalgamated UAW 4811 now represents University of California academic student employees and graduate students, academic and postdoctoral researchers.