California grad students launch massive strike in defense of 'wrongfully arrested' pro-Hamas campus occupiers
The union, which has long been anti-Israel, is protesting the school’s decision to have the police arrest disruptive protesters who took part in the school’s anti-Israel encampment.
A University of California (UC) union of graduate student workers launched a massive strike in support of anti-Israel students.
On Tuesday, more than 10,000 union members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 4811 union began striking at UC Los Angeles and UC Davis in protest over UC’s decision to allow the police to arrest anti-Israel protesters on several UC campuses. At least 1,500 union members have been striking at UC Santa Cruz since May 20.
The union posted to X on May 23, advertising the strike.
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“The Executive Board of UAW Local 4811 has called on Academic Workers at UCLA and UC Davis to STAND UP and walk off the job next Tuesday, May 28th,” the group posted.
UAW 4811 alleges that UC “mishandled and escalated” the recent pro-Palestine demonstrations by allegedly “taking unlawful actions that cut to the heart of our collective bargaining agreements.”
President of UAW 4811 Rafael Jaime urged UC leadership to grant “amnesty” to the anti-Israel protesters: “UC can resolve their unfair labor practices at any time – beginning by granting amnesty to our colleagues facing criminal or disciplinary proceedings for engaging in protest. Instead, UC has continued to break the law, and has issued interim suspensions to members of our union wrongfully arrested last week at UC Irvine.”
The union has been openly opposed to the Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza following Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist massacre.
“UAW 4811 was one of the earliest unions in the US to call for a ceasefire and de-escalation of the war in Gaza, and were instrumental in the International UAW taking up this same call,” the union writes on its website. “In January 2024, Academic Student Employees voted by a margin of 10-to-1 in support of continued efforts to organize alongside other unions and community groups for a ceasefire and a just and lasting peace in Palestine.”
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UAW 4811 also states that its members have taken part in the anti-Israel encampments on UC’s campuses: “UAW members have chosen to participate in the nonviolent Palestine Solidarity Encampments to call attention to UC’s financial ties to Israel’s war effort and urge UC to divest from companies and industries currently profiting off of the suffering in Gaza.”
UAW 4811 is composed of roughly 48,000 union members.
Campus Reform has contacted the University of California, Los Angeles for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
