The union’s members voted last month to authorize a strike to protest the university’s controversial response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, which they said has caused unsafe work conditions and violated their free speech rights.
The first UC campus that stood up and withheld labor was UC Santa Cruz where academic workers walked off the job on May 20. The walkout spread to UC Los Angeles and UC Davis on May 28, and further expanded to two more campuses, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara, on Monday.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been spreading at colleges and universities across the United States amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Hundreds were arrested in crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests and encampments on UC campuses across the state. Around 50 people were arrested on May 15 during police crackdown on a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at UC Irvine.