UPTE FAQ on UAW 4811’s “Stand Up” Strike

50,000 academic workers represented by United Auto Workers Local 4811 (UAW 4811) have filed unfair labor practice charges and voted to authorize a strike in response to UC’s unprecedented crackdown on free speech, which has seen both students and union members beaten, concussed, and pepper sprayed on campuses.

UPTE stands in solidarity with UAW 4811 members who are undertaking this Unfair Labor Practice strike, as well as with the rights of students to engage in free speech and protest.

As fellow union members, it is our responsibility to stand beside our UAW colleagues. We call on UPTE members to turn down any voluntary requests to perform struck UAW work, such as exam proctoring, and report to UPTE immediately any UAW work that you are being told to perform. While UPTE is prohibited from calling a sympathy strike, we encourage you to attend rallies and picket lines before and after work and during break periods.

Please find additional FAQs below.

  • Academic workers have voted to authorize an unfair labor practice strike to protest the University’s unfair labor practices, which include its retaliation against employees for demanding workplace-related changes, standing in solidarity with the people of Palestine, unilaterally changing its existing workplace free speech policies, and unilaterally changing other terms and conditions of employment. If a strike is held, academic workers represented by UAW will stop all research and teaching work.

  • While UPTE is prohibited from calling a sympathy strike, we encourage you to express your solidarity with the strike by attending rallies and picket lines before and after work and during break periods.

    If you can perform your job duties remotely, you can also request to work from home on the day(s) of the strike to honor the picket line. If you are denied the request to work from home, please contact UPTE.

    We also call on UPTE members to turn down any voluntary requests to perform struck UAW work and report to UPTE immediately any UAW work that you are being told to perform.

    You may also exercise your First Amendment rights to free speech by wearing a union button and T-shirt or discussing your own union membership. We strongly encourage you to find other creative, active, and legal ways to express your support for our colleagues in the UAW.

  • No. Under the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) of 1979, UPTE-represented employees 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 their work during the strike. 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 university continues to function as normal. 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 required to do this work, ask how you will be compensated for this additional labor, and contact UPTE.

  • The best defense against intimidation is knowledge of your rights, and UPTE will defend members who are subject to retaliation or discrimination for engaging in protected activity to support UAW. Please contact UPTE if you or your colleagues feel intimidated by UC’s statements about the strike.