Major strike in California unis after crackdown on pro-Palestine protests

The University of California (UC) academic workers’ union on Tuesday announced the expansion of its ongoing strike to include the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and UC Davis, bringing the total number of walkouts to about 12,000 individuals.

The action was launched in response to the university administration’s response to the pro-Palestinian student encampment.

The union, which represents 48,000 academics and graduate workers at UC escalated its ongoing standoff a week after up to 2,000 union members began a sit-in at UC, Santa Cruz, according to Cal Matters website.

Meanwhile, about 60 of the 4,811 members of the local United Auto Workers (UAW) union held a picket at UCLA’s Royce Quad, where a group of pro-Israeli protestors tried to dismantle a pro-Palestinian encampment last month.

The police entered the encampments hours after the violence broke out and arrested some of those involved.

Union members are protesting the UC presidency’s response to the pro-Palestinian protests on campus, which led to the arrest and suspension of many students and some union members.

The right to free speech was being violated when UC leaders called in police to forcibly remove Palestine solidarity encampments, union members said.

READ: US university president placed on leave for accepting demands of Palestine supporters