Protestors held a picket line on April 2 and April 3 demanding academic changes and challenging UC’s illegal labor practices including harassment and intimidation.
Graduate students serving as teaching assistants are leading an ongoing strike at all UC campuses on April 2 and 3. The International Union, United Automobile and Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America organized the strike to eliminate the 18-quarter limit imposed on TAs — which requires graduate students to complete their Ph.D. research within 18 quarters — and reduce class sizes.
In response to the strike, the UC management is requesting workers to report the names of the people participating in the strike.
According to the UAW, this strike is in response to the Nov. 20 strike during which UC management illegally harassed and intimidated workers. The UAW also claimed that the UC system “illegally used surveillance during strike action, including filming of strikers on some campuses by UC Police Department.”
Prior to the strike, the UAW already reported these incidents to the state and filed Unfair Labor Practices charges against the UC system.
TAs are now picketing around the UCSD campus with their slogan, “Students At Work Is United, We Will Never Be Divided.”
Whether the UC management will follow through with the demands of the TAs is still in speculation. At UCSD, the picket line will be at Gilman and Library Walk from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 3.
Undergraduate • Apr 3, 2014 at 4:48 pm
The graduate students are the ones who are harassing and intimidating people! They barged into our classroom, shouted curse words at us, and refused to leave despite our prof asking them to.
I had no idea what was going on until I looked it up here. Our TA who is a graduate student had no idea what was going on either.