We, the undersigned faculty members employed by the University of California, affirm our respect for the rights of UAW 4811 members to organize and strike as they vote on whether to authorize an Unfair Labor Practices Strike.
In the past week, UC administrators have invited police onto campuses at UCSD and UCLA to arrest student protestors and academic workers exercising their legal right to demonstrate against the death, destruction and human suffering directed at the people of Palestine.
In response, UAW 4811 has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges against UCLA, with further ULP charges expected to come, arising from the UC Administration's conduct and police actions taken at their request.
Non-retaliation is a baseline commitment of faculty solidarity. We pledge that we will not use our authority as faculty to penalize UAW 4811 workers in any way for engaging in this strike; nor will we retaliate against Unit 18 UC-AFT lecturers who choose to exercise their rights. We will not disclose the name of striking Teaching Assistants to the university administration, we will not endorse any disciplinary measures directed at graduate workers who have participated in the strike, nor will we disclose or endorse measures against Unit 18 lecturers. Our commitment to non-retaliation extends to all legally-protected strike activity by graduate workers who participate in the ULP strike, including TAs withholding grades, research assistants withholding research labor, or any other form of legally protected labor withholding. We commit to ensuring that striking workers will face no retaliation, including additional labor burdens imposed at the strike’s conclusion.
UAW 4811 union members will vote on whether or not to go on strike for unfair labor practices (ULP) from May 13-15. While there are more unfair labor practice charges forthcoming, the
current unfair labor practices charged include the arrest of UAW members for non-violent political protest; discriminatory treatment based on the content of protest speech; retaliation for protected concerted activity as employees; and failures to bargain over changes to workplace speech policies.
We affirm our students' and graduate colleagues' right to protest on campus and to exercise their rights to free speech without retaliation, forcible police intervention, and arrest. We affirm our commitment to non-retaliation against all UAW 4811 workers in the event of an Unfair Labor Practices strike.
