UC-AFT, the union that represents lecturers, has announced that it will be holding a systemwide labor strike at UC campuses on Wednesday and Thursday, November 17 and 18. Picketing by lecturers is expected to happen at the main entrance and west entrance of UC Santa Cruz.
Up-to-date information will be published on the UC Santa Cruz website at https://status.ucsc.edu. For questions, you may call your Employee & Labor Relations Analyst in Staff HR or email elrinfo@ucsc.edu. Academic employees may reach out to apo@ucsc.edu.
In advance of potential demonstration activity, I write to share important and helpful information and resources.
Highlights
- UC’s current proposal focuses on compensation, employment stability, and workload
- UCSC supports protected free speech activities.
- Blocking access roads harms members of the campus community
- Campus community should stay informed, remain flexible
UC’s current proposal focuses on compensation, employment stability, workload
This is a systemwide contract, and the UC Office of the President has worked hard to try to reach an agreement with the systemwide union’s leadership. The latest proposal, which reflects genuine responsiveness to union concerns related to compensation, employment stability, and workload, shows the University of California to be bargaining in good faith and working hard to address the most important issues raised during negotiations.
UCSC supports protected free speech activities
UC Santa Cruz is committed to ensuring that all people may exercise their constitutionally protected rights of free expression, speech, and assembly. The ongoing opportunity for the expression of a variety of viewpoints is at the core of this commitment. The right of free speech in a university includes the right to acts of peaceful dissent, protests in peaceable assembly, and orderly, nondisruptive demonstrations which include picketing.
Our campus Free Speech website provides additional information.
No employee is ever obligated to engage in collective labor activities, such as striking, picketing, or protesting. Unions are legally prohibited from threatening or coercing members in other ways to keep them from coming to work. Academic and staff employees should remain in contact with their supervisors, managers, and chairs to discuss their schedules and work locations when warranted.
If you feel you are being threatened, harassed, intimidated about crossing the picket line, or are prevented from working by picketers or striking employees, please immediately notify your supervisor and your campus employee and labor relations office. In cases of emergency, please dial 9–1–1.
Blocking access roads harms members of the campus community
Preventing vehicles or individuals from entering or leaving campus imposes burdens on those who already must overcome obstacles in their day. Students, staff, and faculty with mobility challenges face additional difficulty getting to the academic core because buses are unable to cross onto campus. Parents face uncertainty or delays taking their children to school or childcare. Students, staff, faculty and their families living on campus experience stress about getting to off-campus jobs or appointments on time.
Campus community should stay informed, remain flexible
Though we do not know precisely how these strike activities will impact the operation of the residential campus, we are working to do everything we can to ensure continued operations. Campus Transit shuttles will be operational. However, potential strike-related disruptions at the main and / or west campus entrances may result in transportation delays, including an inability of METRO buses to access campus. In that situation, we anticipate that METRO campus routes will instead stop at the Barn Theater, and riders can board a Campus Transit shuttle nearby.
TAPS Transit Operations will give highest priority to providing Disability Van Service (DVS) clients transport between on-campus locations while suspending the Bike Shuttle and modifying regular Loop and Upper Campus services as needed.
We anticipate that three dining halls will be open during the strike; however, dining hall hours will be limited from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the types of prepared food available will be limited as well. We also anticipate that all cafes and restaurants operated by UC Santa Cruz Dining may be closed.
We anticipate that Student Health Services, including CAPS, will be open during the strike, but services may be limited. For medical advice, contact our Nurse Advice Line at 831–459–2591. For urgent matters or emergencies, please refer to our after hours webpage for information on how to get care when SHS is closed.
If you are experiencing emotional or psychological distress, call 831–459–2628 or go to the crisis assistance webpage.
Information about campus operations on strike days will be posted on a special web site https://status.ucsc.edu and recorded on the campus communication hotline (831–459-INFO). The campus may also send Cruz Alert notifications as appropriate.
Thank you for your patience during this time.
