University of California Sues Union to End Multi-Campus Strikes

The University of California has sued the union representing 48,000 of its graduate student workers to end rolling strikes at five campuses over the school’s response to protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

UC filed the lawsuit with the California Superior Court in Orange County, alleging that United Auto Workers Local 4811 is breaching the parties’ contract by calling tens of thousands of workers out on strike and causing “irreversible harm” to the university by delaying end-of-year grades.

“The breach of contract also endangers life-saving research in hundreds of laboratories across the University and will also cause the University substantial monetary damages,” Melissa Matella, UC’s associate vice president for system-wide labor relations, said in a statement Wednesday.

The complaint filed June 3 accuses picketers of blocking entrances to university property, including hospitals, and of illegally occupying buildings at the UC Los Angeles campus. UC is seeking compensation for monetary damages from the strike.

The California Public Employees Relations Board earlier this week denied the university’s request to halt the strikes, which began last month on a campus-by-campus basis.

The union says it isn’t bound by the no-strike clause in the parties’ contract because UC violated state law by by calling in police to break up encampments on several campuses and changing workplace rules in response to the protests.

PERB has issued complaints against both UC and UAW Local 4811.

The agency’s general counsel says the school illegally discriminated against union workers who took part in the encampments, unilaterally changed discipline policies without bargaining, and discouraged workers from organizing.

But the general counsel also said the union failed to give the university “adequate notice” of its strike and “failed and refused to meet and confer in good faith.”

In a post on X, UAW Local 4811 called the lawsuit “UC’s latest attempt to shirk accountability for the violence it has caused and allowed against union members.”

The case is Regents of the Univ. of Cal. v. United Auto Workers Local 4811, Cal. Super. Ct., docket number unavailable, complaint filed 6/3/24.