This report by members of the UAW 2865 Research Committee analyzes the University of California’s investment in policing through the creation and maintenance of its own police force, partnerships with other law enforcement agencies, and ties to the prison-industrial complex. Even before the founding of the University of California Police Department, the University advanced police militarization by promoting the use of tactical training and surveillance technology. Over the course of its existence, UCPD has played a forceful role in suppressing student and worker protests both targeting the University administration and advancing broader fights for justice, often supported by and in turn supporting external police departments. The report concludes that campus police have always served as an oppressive force, and piecemeal reforms have failed to change that fact. It is time to work toward abolition, committing funds to institutional structures that promote safety and stability instead of violently reacting to the symptoms of social insecurity. The authors hope that the report will serve as a tool for education, discussion, and organizing towards such ends. Read the full report here.
News
Monthly Executive Board Meeting
The February Monthly Executive Board Meeting will take place Thursday, February 25th at 1pm. Zoom info below:
Zoom Information
UAW 2865 Host Account is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: January EBoard Meeting
Time: Jan 16, 2021 01:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
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Meeting ID: 891 5056 9995
Passcode: 816227
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UAW 2865 and UC meet in Day 1 of Public Employee Relations Board Hearing
Oakland, CA – UAW 2865, the union that represents more than 19,000 academic workers at the University of California, faced off with University of California administrators in a hearing Tuesday, December 1, at California’s Public Employment Relations Board at 10am. At issue are what the union alleges were the university’s illegal actions to circumvent their collective bargaining relationship. After astronomical increases in the cost of living for academic workers and a lack of regulations in California’s housing market, the university failed to address the cost of living crisis for academic workers, and a wildcat strike at UC Santa Cruz ensued. In an attempt to resolve its dispute with wildcat strikers, the university met directly with workers and with a third party, bypassing the union and offering workers inadequate housing stipends that were outside the guarantee of the union contract.
“The university’s actions in response to the strike grossly violated the rights of their workers by disrespecting their democratically elected representative – the union,” said Kavitha Iyengar, President of UAW 2865. “As union members, we must hold the university accountable for the hostile actions they took against our union, and that means demonstrating that the university must bargain with the union over issues related to housing.”
The hearing represents a continuation of the fallout from the wildcat strike. Earlier this summer, after marathon negotiations and pressure from thousands of members of UAW 2865, the university agreed to rehire 54 workers who were fired in the spring for their role in the wildcat strike.
The current conflict is the latest struggle for better working conditions for academic workers, a fight that has become more urgent since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Improving our living conditions has always been a struggle for ASEs, but with remote learning at UC, our living conditions are literally our working conditions, and they are our students’ learning conditions,” said Gaby Barrios, the union’s Sergeant-at-Arms. “We will keep fighting to hold UC accountable to its workers and students, and to win high quality benefits, but we can only do this by taking mass collective action. That’s how we got our co-workers their jobs back this summer and that’s how we’ll win a more equitable university.”
UAW 2865/5810 Union Organizer Training Program
UAW 2865 (the Union of TAs, Readers, and Tutors) and UAW 5810 (the Union of Postdocs and Academic Researchers) are hiring temporary paid organizers to build union membership and participation in preparation for upcoming contract negotiations with UC. These are four-week positions at 15-20 hours per week (20 hours preferred), starting on Tuesday, January 19th.
UAW 2865 and UAW 5810 are looking for applicants who are passionate about social justice, detail oriented, committed to public higher education, and willing to have conversations about the importance of union membership and participation with academic workers from diverse backgrounds. No prior union experience is necessary.
This hands-on training program will include regular coaching by experienced union organizers. Organizers will learn how to:
- Sign up new members in union orientations and answer questions about benefits, rights, and protections in the union contract
- Conduct one-to-one organizing conversations over zoom and the phone, with a focus on building union capacity for mass collective actions such as majority-participation strike votes and strikes
- Identify and develop new union leaders
- Utilize and maintain membership lists
In the midst of a global pandemic and threats of austerity, academic workers need to participate in their unions now more than ever. Apply to be a union organizer today! Send a resume and brief cover letter to organize@uaw2865.org. Applicants will be considered on a rolling basis, but no later than December 11, 2020. Organizers will receive a salary of $2,038.77 to $2,718.36 over four weeks depending on the number of hours per week.
International students, women, people of color, LGBTQIA are all encouraged to apply. People who participate in this program may be considered for future organizer employment opportunities where needed.
UAW 2865 October 2020 Vacancy Election Results
The October 2020 vacancy election for the statewide Executive Board position of Sergeant-at-Arms and campus Joint Council positions took place October 15th and 16th. 1403 members participated in this election. The vote totals are below, with the winners of each race indicated with an asterisk (*).
Executive Board
Sergeant-at-Arms:
*Gaby Barrios (UC-Los Angeles, Spanish and Portugese) 849
Tony Boardman (UC-Santa Cruz, Literature) 517
Campus Joint Council Positions
Berkeley Head Stewards (4)
*Rohit Krishnan (History) 250
*Tania Osorio Harp (Architecture) 268
*Gregory Ottino (Physics) 255
*Haden Smiley (Music) 247
Zachary Hicks (Slavic Languages and Literature) 103
Davis Head Stewards (3)
*Hannah Kempf (Earth and Planetary Sciences) 80
*Jeremy Rud (Linguistics) 96
*Galen Yun (Law) 89
Mark Samuel Abbott (Physics and Astronomy) 77
Irvine Head Stewards (1)
*Mustafa I. Hussain (Informatics) 95
Samiha Khalil (Culture & Theory) 62
Thanks to all those who voted, and congratulations to our newly elected officers!