Judge orders temporary halt to U of California academic workers’ strike against Israel

SANTA ANA, California — Thousands of academic workers on strike at the University of California are ordered by a state judge to temporarily cease their weekslong strike against Israel over the war in Gaza.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Randall J. Sherman issued the emergency restraining order after UC lawyers argued that the ongoing strike would cause irreversible harm as students are nearing finals.

The university system sued United Auto Workers Local 4811 on Tuesday even though both sides have competing unfair practice labor claims pending before the California Public Employment Relations Board, which declined twice to issue an emergency injunction.

The union, which represents 48,000 graduate students who work as teaching assistants, tutors, researchers and other academic employees on the 10-campus UC system, started its strike May 20 in Santa Cruz. The strike has since expanded to UC campuses in Davis, Los Angeles, Irvine, Santa Barbara and San Diego.

Melissa Matella, associate vice president for labor relations, expresses gratitude for the order, saying in a statement that the ongoing strike would have set back students’ learning and possibly stalled critical research projects. Officials say the strike is not related to employment terms and violates the union’s contract.

But the union says it is protesting the treatment of its members, some of whom were arrested and forcibly ejected by police in demonstrations against Israel over its offensive in Gaza against Hamas.

Rebecca Gross, a UC Santa Cruz graduate student and union leader, says they are surveying rank-and-file workers on how to proceed.

“The struggle is not over,” she says. “It really hasn’t been confirmed yet … that what we’re doing here is illegal in any way.”