(This is the first of three FAQ’s about the UAW strike. The second set addresses questions related to grades and grading. The third FAQ answered more questions about grading.)

On November 14th, tens of thousands of academic workers represented by UAW 2865 (the Union of Academic Student Employees at UC), UAW 5810 (Postdocs and Academic Researchers), and SRU-UAW (Student Researchers) will begin striking to resolve Unfair Labor Practices (ULPs). 98% of 36,558 union members cast YES votes authorizing the UAW to call a multi-unit strike. UAW has bargained for months with the UC to secure better pay, benefits, and working conditions. A timeline and their demands can be found at fairucnow.org.

CUCFA supports our fellow academic workers and calls on the UC to bargain in good faith. The disruption to the university’s core mission – teaching and research – will end through the administration’s efforts to settle the strike. Faculty are not responsible for its resolution, nor should we be expected to mitigate all its effects.

This document responds to questions that Senate faculty may have regarding their rights and responsibilities during the UAW strike, including but not limited to how they can respect the picket line. The UAW requests that faculty honor the picket line, but there are also other ways to show support, which can be found below.

Q1: What does a strike mean?

A: Academic workers who choose to go on strike will stop all research and teaching work. This is an Unfair Labor Practice Strike, lawful under the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA). Academic workers engaged in a lawful ULP strike are protected from being terminated or disciplined for participating in the strike, and faculty must respect their right to strike.

Q2: What does respecting a picket line mean?

A: Respecting a picket line is sometimes used as a general term to describe supporting a strike or not entering a location where a strike is happening. However, when there is a strike at one’s own workplace, it specifically describes individual employees acting on their conscience and withholding their own labor in solidarity with striking workers. In this case, that means not doing work on behalf of the university. We understand this to include, but not be limited to, teaching classes. It is not the same as engaging directly in the strike, but it shows your support for the picketing workers, their union, and the labor movement.

Q3: Do I have a right to respect a picket line in general and the UAW picket line in particular?

A: Yes. All university employees covered under HEERA, including Senate faculty, even department chairs or heads of similar academic units or programs, are generally non-managerial and also have the right to respect a picket line established by other university employees (for details see Government Code Section 3580.3). This right is acknowledged in the materials that UCOP is currently circulating: “unrepresented non-managerial employees also have a protected right to honor a picket line and/or engage in a sympathy strike” (pg 3 of their FAQ and Guidance). Senate faculty are not subject to a “no strike” clause and so maintain their right to honor a picket line. University employees also have individual free speech rights that provide additional protections.

You may start honoring the picket line at any point during the strike. However, if you choose to respect the picket line but then decide to return to work, you should only honor the picket line again if the UAW strikes over a new issue. You may always show your solidarity in other ways, including not volunteering to pick up struck labor and being present at the picket during your personal time.

Q3.5: I’ve heard faculty who currently work with TAs or GSRs can’t honor the picket line because they are supervisors. Is this the case?

A: No. The November 10th communication from the Chair and Vice Chair of Academic Council on this topic was not as clear as it could have been about the difference between Senate faculty’s supervisory responsibilities with regard to TAs, GSRs, and other workers, which require that we not ask them about their plans for the strike, and individual rights to respect the picket line. Our supervisory responsibilities with regard to Teaching Assistants and researchers do not cancel out our rights to honor a picket line.

Q4: What might be the consequences of respecting the UAW picket line?

A: One consequence is that your solidarity will strengthen the strike and help the Postdocs, Researchers, TAs, and GSIs win respect from the university.

The university may choose to withhold the pay of Senate faculty for their time respecting UAW’s picket line. It would, however, be unlawful for the university to dock additional pay or take other disciplinary action against faculty for honoring the picket line.

Q5: Isn’t respecting the picket line a violation of the Faculty Code of Conduct?

A: No, CUCFA does not understand the Faculty Code of Conduct as prohibiting conduct protected under HEERA, including respecting a picket line. The Faculty Code of Conduct furthermore recognizes the constitutionally protected rights of Senate faculty to free expression.

Q6: Do I need to tell someone if I am choosing to respect the picket line? 

A:  It may be appropriate to inform your department chair if you want to make clear that you will be respecting the picket line. Still, you are under no legal obligation to affirmatively notify the university. If you are asked whether you will be honoring the picket line, you are not obligated to respond, but if you decide to answer, you should respond truthfully.

Q7: Other than respecting the picket line, how else can Senate faculty show support for the strikers?

• Not volunteer to pick up struck labor (discussed in greater detail in Q8 below)
• Be present at the picket line and rallies.
• Communicate with your TAs, Postdocs, and Student Researchers, making it clear that you will accommodate their participation in the strike, but do not monitor or ask them about their strike activity.
• Contribute to the UAW-UC strike and hardship fund (found here)
• Encourage your department to issue a statement of solidarity (examples can be found here).
• Use social media to express your support, using the hashtag #FairUCNow
• Send a letter to President Drake calling for good-faith bargaining (template here)
• Sign the CUCFA statement of support for the striking unions (found here)

Q8: Do I need to volunteer to perform the labor of Postdocs, Researchers, TAs, and GSIs who are on strike, such as teaching their classes or sections or doing their assigned grading?

A: No. Under HEERA, faculty do not need to volunteer to perform struck work that is outside our customary duties. One of the most important ways we can be in solidarity with striking workers is to not diminish the impact of their absence by volunteering to do the work they are withholding. Though it may seem helpful to fill a gap left when someone is out on strike, it undermines the action and can lead to conflict and resentment.

You may receive messages from the university telling you that it is your responsibility to ensure the continuity of education for your students. Such messages do not mean you have to volunteer to do the work of strikers that is not part of your normal work duties. If you are asked to fulfill responsibilities that depend on the missing labor, you should ask if you are being required to do this work, ask how you will be compensated for this additional labor, and contact CUCFA.

Those teaching courses with TAs may have specific concerns regarding final grades. We do not yet know if the strike will last into the period of final exams and final grade submission. If this may be the case, CUCFA will offer additional guidance about your rights and obligations regarding grade submission. UPDATE: The new CUCFA FAQ that specifically addresses questions related to grades and grading is now online.

Q9: What should I do if I feel intimidated by the administration’s statements about UAW’s strike?

A: The best defense against intimidation is knowledge of your rights. And importantly, your Faculty Association is here for you. Please contact your campus Faculty Association or CUCFA if you or your colleagues feel intimidated.

Q10: Is it fair to students when faculty respect a picket line?

A: When faculty respect a picket line, we demonstrate in very concrete terms that we are unwilling to accept the conditions that have led academic workers and researchers at UC to vote for a strike in the first place. It is one powerful way for us to communicate that they are essential to the teaching and research mission of the University of California and that their contracts should reflect that. As undergraduate enrollments rise, improved working and living conditions for academic workers are necessary to provide students with the best possible learning conditions and to ensure that the UC is living up to its own policy of nurturing and maintaining a diverse academic community.

Q11: How can I learn more about the demands of the Postdocs, Researchers, TAs, and GSIs, and the university’s responses?

A: Click here for details and updates.

CUCFA updates the FAQs to improve clarity in response to questions from Senate faculty.