From Joe Klein
March 2, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
I wanted to write again with some updates from the ongoing strike.
For the 15th day, hundreds of graduate students, undergraduates, faculty, staff, lecturers, and others rallied at the base of campus–today wearing red for ed in honor of the striking educators who have come before us–most recently in LA, West Virginia, and Oklahoma. For the 15th consecutive working day, metro bus drivers refused to cross the picket line in solidarity with striking graduate students. Energy was incredibly high all morning as strikers marched on the picket line and rallied for a press conference where fired graduate students spoke out and told their stories–about being denied their livelihood while living with the threat of deportation, chronic illnesses and disabilities, and with families to support and care for. Directly after the press conference, faculty marched down Coolidge to the main entrance of campus, and together with strikers peacefully closed down the main entrance to campus, which remained closed for the entire working day. Meanwhile, major strike actions happened across the state, wearing red in solidarity with UCSC, including a “Big Ass Rally” at UC Davis, a Red4Ed march and rally at UCSD, and a massive march and rally at UC Santa Barbara, while UC Irvine held a sickout strike and rally, UCR rallied and held a general assembly, and UCLA held a major march and general assembly to move toward further escalation. The strike is spreading to all 10 campuses.
As of today, UCSC has now spent approximately $4.5 million on the police presence at the picket line. Meanwhile university administration remains silent–and so the strike continues!
In a stunning development, our statewide union UAW 2865 has filed additional unfair labor practice (ULP) charges against the University of California due to the firing of UCSC graduate students, and is convening a bargaining team to discuss a vote to authorize an ULP strike. This would mean that all UAW 2865 workers at all 10 campuses would be legally protected to escalate to a full teaching strike in protest of the university’s egregious escalations. Click here to read the full UAW 2865 statement. The union explained its commitment:
“Why are we digging in on this? Because we’re facing a crisis in higher ed – about who gets to participate when few can afford it, about gender equity and sexual harassment, about chronic under funding from our political leaders & about fair pay.”
In more exciting news from the picket, in the afternoon strikers gathered to welcome hip hop artist, writer, and activist Mike Africa Jr. to the picket line all the way from Philadelphia. While waiting for Mike to arrive, UCSC students read poetry written by Mumia Abu-Jamal, author, radical activist, inmate, and PhD student in History of Consciousness. Mike Africa Jr. spoke to a huge crowd of students about the power of solidarity and radical struggle, the connections between racial and environmental justice, and the movement to abolish the prison industrial complex. Strikers are grateful to the amazing undergraduate organizers who made this visit possible.
Today I learned that the UC’s annual operating budget is approximately $9.5 BILLION with a fat B. A group of organizers is working to target state government officials, especially Gov. Gavin Newsom, to ask that $310 million of the state’s $21.5 billion (ANOTHER B) 2020 surplus be allocated for statewide COLA funding for the UC system. Supporters are encouraged to call Gavin Newsom’s office and ask that $310 million be allocated for a UC wide COLA.
In honor of election day, organizers have planned a “Super BBQs-day” election bbq party at the picket line tomorrow. Anyone who needs to vote on campus is encouraged to cross the picket line! In addition to the regular loop buses, there will be voter taxis available at the base of campus to help people get to the polls efficiently.
Some of today’s action items:
- Join strikers on the picket line, beginning Monday at 7:30am. Please bring friends! You can also bring supplies: sunscreen, coffee, hand sanitizer, healthy food, and large containers of drinking water are always in demand.
- Donate to the strike fund to support striking grads and to provide material relief to our fired grads: gofundme.com/f/support-fund-for-striking-workers-at-ucsc Please share the strike fund with your networks!
- Faculty are encouraged to discuss moving to a full teaching strike.
- Cancel your classes and sections, and do not ask your students to cross the picket line, especially this coming Monday and Tuesday.
- Lecturers should consider holding their classes at the picket.
- Push back the dates of large assignments, or as some instructors have done, cancel them.
- Write to the administration asking them to come to the table to work with graduate students and to rescind the decision to fire nearly 100 graduate student workers.
- Call Gavin Newsom’s office to complain about the firing of graduate students, the extreme rent burden of graduate students, and to ask that $310 million be allocated for a UC wide COLA. Click here for contact information.
As always, thank you so so much for your support, and extra special thanks to our undergraduates and to the faculty who have been coming out to support strikers–we are so grateful.
See you tomorrow!