SACRAMENTO, the United States, May 28 (Xinhua) -- University of California's controversial response to pro-Palestinian protests have led to an expanding strike as academic workers at two more campuses walked off the job on Tuesday.
Employees at the University of California (UC), Los Angeles, and UC Davis in the U.S. state of California went on strike on Tuesday to protest the public university system's treatment of pro-Palestinian protests.
They were called on by their union -- United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 4811, which represents 48,000 academic workers at the ten campuses of the UC system and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
"Workers at UCLA are on Day One of our strike in response to the university's actions in the last few weeks. When there've been peaceful protests in our campus and (the university) has responded with nothing but violence," Anny Viloria, a union representative, told Xinhua during the strike.
"So, we're here opposing that and demanding that the university takes immediate action for amnesty for all of our workers and students," she added.
Over 50 protesters with "UAW on strike" signs were protesting in the middle of Dickson Plaza, reported the university's student newspaper Daily Bruin Tuesday morning, adding that protesters chanted, "L.A. is a union town" and "Whose university? Our university."
Some protesters chanting "Free, free Palestine" were blocking the entrance of a parking structure on campus, according to the student newspaper.
At UC Davis, about 15 miles from the state capital Sacramento, encampments were set up, with signs reading "free speech" and "unfair labor practice."
The participants walked a picket line on the UC Davis campus, holding signs like "UAW on strike" and "Drop the charges," while chanting slogans, demanding amnesty for those facing university discipline.
"UAW 4811 workers perform the majority of teaching at UC and perform cutting-edge research that generates billions in annual funding," said the union on its website. "Academic workers will stop performing any work duties related to teaching and research for the duration of the strike," it said.
UC Santa Cruz was the first UC campus to stand up and withhold their labor when UAW 4811 called on members to go on strike last Monday. Since then, as many as 2,000 UC Santa Cruz graduate students and academic workers have participated in the action, according to a report by CalMatters.
Tuesday's job action brought 12,000 more out of classrooms and laboratories, just about two weeks before students begin to take their end-of-quarter finals. So far, nearly a third of the academic and graduate student workers of the University of California have been on strike, according to the report.
UAW 4811 said it "was one of the earliest unions in the U.S. to call for a ceasefire and de-escalation of the war in Gaza" and that academic workers at UC strongly support the right of the encampment organizers in their right to peacefully demonstrate.
"When faced with Palestine Solidarity encampments and other nonviolent protests by academic workers, students, and community members, UC has mishandled and escalated the situation by taking unlawful actions that cut to the heart of our collective bargaining agreements," the union explained why it voted to authorize a strike, noting that "Our union has filed unfair labor practice charges in response."
The UC Office of the President has countered by filing its own unfair labor charge against the union. The office called the strike "illegal" and said the union's decision to strike over non-labor issues violates the no-strike clause of their contracts with UC.
The university also filed a request with the California Public Employment Relations Board for injunctive relief with UAW 4811's charges, but the state agency declined the request.
In addition, hundreds of UC faculty and staff have been calling on Gene Block, chancellor of UC Los Angeles, to resign over the university's response to the protests.
On May 2, after a night of violent clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters on UC Los Angeles campus, more than 200 protesters were arrested as police moved to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment at the university.
Police crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests at UC San Diego and UC Irvine also led to dozens of arrests this month, as pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been spreading at colleges and universities across the United States amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. ■
