An Orange County judge Friday ordered the union representing UC academic workers to halt its strike at six campuses, ruling the walkout appeared to be causing “damage to students’ education” during the critical end of the term when finals are taken. Orange County Superior Court Judge Randall J. Sherman said the University of California had made its case for a temporary restraining order to stop the strike, which the university contended was causing “irreparable harm” to students and university operations. The next hearing on the case was scheduled for June 27, which could effectively end the walkout that was approved by union membership through June 30. Sherman alluded to that fact at the end of a roughly hourlong hearing, telling both sides to notify the court if “the strike will expire on its own terms.” ...
Union President Rafael Jaime, a doctoral student in literature at UCLA, alluded to those losses by the university system in a statement Friday, saying workers were “ready for a long fight.”...
Some union members Friday said they would consider potentially ignoring the judge’s order...
Full story at https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-07/uc-seeks-to-halt-strike-takes-academic-workers-to-court.
The union in various tweets seems to reject the ruling but has not said yet whether it will appeal or what action it might take. Undoubtedly, consultations with attorneys are going on. From the tweets:
Despite UC’s latest attempt to avoid accountability, let’s be clear: this struggle is far from over. After two failed injunction requests with PERB, UC has convinced an Orange County Superior Court judge to order UAW Local 4811 to halt our lawful unfair labor practice strike until June 27th. Having twice failed to secure an injunction from the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), the university today succeeded in their search for a more favorable outcome. The law is on our side and we’re prepared to keep defending our rights.
Source: https://x.com/uaw_4811/status/1799247366496887229.
UC issued this statement:
Court orders UAW strike to end across UC campuses
UC Office of the President June 7, 2024
A Superior Court judge today (June 7) granted a temporary restraining order to the University of California, temporarily halting the illegal systemwide strike by UAW-represented employees across campuses.
The action comes after UC filed a lawsuit and requested injunctive relief Tuesday against UAW for breach of contract. UC and UAW have collective bargaining agreements that each have no-strike clauses. UAW-represented UC employees began striking on May 20 at UC Santa Cruz and the strike has expanded to six of the 10 systemwide campuses.
"We are extremely grateful for a pause in this strike so our students can complete their academic studies. The strike would have caused irreversible setbacks to students' academic achievements and may have stalled critical research projects in the final quarter," said Melissa Matella, associate vice president for Systemwide Labor Relations.
"From the beginning, we have stated this strike was illegal and a violation of our contracts' mutually agreed upon no-strike clauses,” Matella added. “We respect the advocacy and progressive action towards issues that matter to our community and our community's right to engage in lawful free speech activities — activities that continue to occur across the system. However, UAW's strike is unrelated to employment terms, violates the parties' agreements, and runs contrary to established labor principles."
While this is an important victory critical to support student success, the University will continue to pursue its legal claims in state court and PERB to protect labor peace across the system.
Source: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/court-orders-uaw-strike-end-across-uc-campuses.
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The temporary restraining order is at https://ia600402.us.archive.org/9/items/2-final-hjaa-report.-the-soil-beneath-the-encampments/Temp%20Restraining%20Order%20on%20strike%206-7-2024.pdf.
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