November 7, 2022
97.5% of voting UC Teaching Assistants, Teaching Associates, Readers, Researchers, and
Postdocs have authorized a strike over UC’s unfair labor practices (ULPs). If the
administration continues to refuse to bargain in good faith and resolve the ULP suits,
workers across all UC campuses will go on strike starting November 14th, 2022. We are
asking for faculty support to pressure the university and make UC a more equitable place to
live and work. You can find updated information about bargaining here.
While you may have received communication from the Office of the Executive Vice
Chancellor, UAW 2865 would like to clarify what actions we are asking for as tangible
demonstrations of solidarity. Under the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act
(HEERA), faculty have the individual right to respect the picket. Senate and non-senate
faculty are referred to respective information from CUCFA, SBFA, and UC-AFT for further
guidance.
The UAW 2865 Santa Barbara OC considers the following actions to be essential to
respecting the picket line:
● Cancelling undergraduate lectures and assignments. The complete stoppage of
all class activity, including classes without TAs, amplifies the essential role played by
TAs in the classroom, and it is essential to creating the maximum disruption to
undergraduate instruction that is key to an effective strike. This also includes online
lectures and classes. Changing assignments or grading policies does not achieve
this purpose, as it circumvents the impact of strike labor. Faculty solidarity in the
form of cancelled lectures were key to the success of graduate student
workers in the recent Columbia University strike.
● Accepting your TAs decision to strike. This means excusing TAs from all their
responsibilities, including teaching section, holding office hours, attending lectures,
grading and inputting grades, and other responsibilities as outlined in the description
of duties.
● Refusing to take on the labor of TAs. Taking on the responsibilities of
TAs—including teaching section or grading assignments—undermines the power of
TAs’ collective withdrawal of labor.
● Refusing retaliation and disclosure. This means not only assuring your TAs of your
commitment to non-retaliation, but refusing to endorse or enable any retaliation from
the administration, and refusing to disclose striking workers to the administration.
The UAW 2865 Santa Barbara OC encourages the following additional actions to stand in
solidarity with TAs, tutors and readers.
● Showing up at the picket line. Our main picket will be between the Arbor and
Davidson Library, between 8am and 6pm every day.
● Communicating the reasons behind the strike to undergraduates, staff and
faculty members before November 14 and giving updates to undergraduate
students throughout the strike. Faculty should reiterate ASEs’ right to strike and
their reasons for striking to students and colleagues
● Holding teach-ins. See an example of a teach-in presentation here.
● Sending a department letter of solidarity to the Office of the Chancellor. For
example, the History Department sent the following resolution to Chancellor Yang on
Oct. 19 in solidarity with graduate students.
● Signing onto a CUCFA letter in support of the strike, here