UC Santa Barbara Academic Workers Join Campus Strikes

As UC Santa Barbara students left their classrooms and lecture halls on Monday, many of their TAs and graduate students, as well as faculty members and some of their classmates, engaged in day one of the United Auto Workers (UAW) 4811 strike in response to their charge of unfair labor practices committed by the UC system during pro-Palestinian demonstrations at various campuses. 

Monday’s strike was the culmination of the ongoing UAW “Stand-Up” strike authorized by the union’s Executive Board on May 15, which has progressed in sequential fashion across the UC system. Academic workers at UCSB and UC San Diego — who were also called to strike on June 3 — join their colleagues at UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Davis, whose ongoing campus strikes were called over the course of a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, UC Irvine plans to organize its picket line on Wednesday, June 5. 

One participant stated that the UCSB striking workers plan to be stationed at the Arbor walkway in front of Davidson Library every weekday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until June 30, the deadline for final grades. Equipped with picket signs, drums, noisemakers, and megaphones, academic workers are not only protesting against the UC system for its unfair labor practices but are demanding UCSB to disclose and divest from weapons and defense contracts with corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman. 

The UAW strike on Monday was highlighted by a rally that marched through campus, stopping at deliberate locations where campus union organizers, undergraduate club leaders, and one faculty member gave speeches and led chants demonstrating support for Palestine and the union’s battle against the UC system. Most notably, the protesters (numbering around 300) stopped at the UCSB administrative and engineering buildings, where speakers condemned the administration and their College of Engineering colleagues for their financial and research ties to the U.S. military and defense corporations. Academic workers and the Gaza Liberation Zone — the pro-Palestinian encampment that has occupied the lawn between the library and North Hall since May 1 — allege that a significant portion of research conducted at the College of Engineering is funded and facilitated by the U.S. Department of Defense and weapons manufacturers with the specific purpose of being exported to overseas conflicts.

Despite the fervor of the UAW, many undergraduates are ambivalent to the strike — taking pictures or shaking their heads in confusion as they funnel into the library and walk to class — even as many final exams, papers, and projects have been suspended or significantly altered. TAs have also threatened to withhold publishing final grades, a measure that has concerned many undergrads who will receive a temporary not-graded or not-recorded in place of a final grade. 

Michael Miller, the associate vice chancellor for undergraduate education, sent a letter to undergrads stating that “contingency plans” are prepared to protect students’ “financial aid, athletic eligibility, prerequisite requirements, and/or the completion of your degree.”

Moreover, many undergrads are under the false impression that the academic workers are striking for better wages and economic conditions — an indication there is confusion between this most recent strike with the UC academic workers’ strike in 2022. Some undergraduates are content, considering that some final grades will be graded more loosely and exams changed to accommodate a lack of TA support. One group of students even walked by and asked, “Are those all TAs?” while another replied, “Yeah, but I still have my math final.”

With the weeks-long pro-Gaza encampment growing in size and one week out from final exams and commencement — which it was announced on Monday has changed venues from the Lagoon to the Recreation Center fields, prompting a student-led petition — business has been anything but usual at UCSB.

However, some students, such as third-year economics major Luke Barnes, are sharing support for the academic workers’ strike. “It’s honestly great to see all of the teaching assistants out here, kinda joining together for a greater cause,” said Barnes. “Over the years, TAs get belittled by the university and overlooked … it’s just nice to see the little man win for once.”