ASEs are voting on whether to give our bargaining team the authority to call an unfair labor practice strike if circumstances justify. Tens of thousands of ASEs voting yes will send a strong message to UC management that we are united and ready to stand up against their unlawful conduct so we can negotiate a fair contract.

Academic Student Employees — all GSRs, Fellows, TAs, Readers, and Tutors at all UC campuses — are voting to authorize our bargaining team to call an unfair labor practice strike if necessary and justified. At the same time 5,000 UC Student Services and Advising Professionals and 7,000 UC Research and Public Service Professionals are holding their own unfair labor practice strike authorization votes regarding UC’s unlawful conduct at their bargaining table.

Over the months of bargaining, ASEs have made strong proposals to guarantee fair and stable pay, job security, protections for international student workers, and equity in the workplace. These proposals would strengthen UC’s core mission of public research and instruction in the public interest, but unlawful conduct by UC management is impeding the process of reaching a fair agreement. The University has committed numerous unfair labor practices impacting ASEs, including unlawful interference, unilateral changes to ASE working conditions, and failure to provide information that ASEs need for bargain on an equal footing.

The fight for our contract coincides with this urgent moment where the Trump administration is attacking our research, education, and job security. As ASEs lead the movement to protect and expand funding to our University, we need to demonstrate our power and compel UC management to make a choice: side with ASEs to defend public higher education, or continue breaking the law, impeding negotiations for a fair contract and distracting from our shared fight against the Trump administration.

The University can choose at any time to fix these unlawful actions and bargain in good faith for a fair agreement. However, we must be ready to exercise our right to strike if they do not meet their obligations to ASEs under California law.

The ULP strike authorization vote will take place online from February 5th to February 13th. More information on how to vote will be shared. Until then, ASEs are pledging to vote Yes on Day 1 and make sure our coworkers do the same. The more ASEs who vote to authorize our bargaining team to call for a strike if circumstances justify, the more power we have to win a fair contract.

UC management’s unlawful actions include withholding information necessary for bargaining, attempted interference and retaliation, and making unilateral changes to ASE working conditions without negotiation. ASEs have filed Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges against the University with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) regarding this unlawful behavior. See more about UC management’s unfair labor practices here.

Striking means completely stopping work. During a strike, ASEs workers will not perform any instructional or research work and will instead participate in picket lines in and around our campuses to increase the visibility of the strike.

Yes, you have the legal right to participate in a ULP strike. It is unlawful under California law to fire or discipline workers for participating in a lawful ULP strike. This protection also applies to international and undocumented workers.

There is strength in numbers. Above all, our greatest protections are unity and robust, mass participation.

Yes, international workers have the same rights as domestic workers under the law to participate in union activities, including lawful strikes. The Trump administrations actions with regard to international workers have been unpredictable over the past year, which is why ASEs are fighting in our contract for strong protections around international worker rights, and fighting in the courts against the Trump administration’s actions.

During a strike, ASEs would participate in various strike duties, which could include picketing in and around campus, phonebanking, outreaching to allies, and coordinating strike efforts.

Yes, ASEs perform critical research and instructional work every day. 5,000 Student Services and Advising Professionals and 7,000 Research and Public Service Professionals are voting to authorize unfair labor practice strikes at the same time as ASEs, and together we perform the bulk of teaching, research, and student support at UC. Additionally, a strike would be highly visible, showing the solidarity of tens of thousands of UC employees and attracting media attention and political support for our right to fair working conditions. Members of other unions can support us in a variety of ways. The combination of stopping our labor, media coverage, and political pressure generated by a ULP strike would absolutely impact the UC.

ASEs perform the bulk of the teaching and research work at UC, and without us the university cannot function. As we saw in 2022, when ASEs completely withheld this essential labor, UC management was forced to to correct its unlawful behavior, clearing the way for both sides to come to a fair agreement that improved the quality of research and instruction and advanced the University’s core mission.

Yes, as UAW members, ASEs will have access to the UAW Strike and Defense Fund after losing pay for participating in a sanctioned strike. Strike assistance is $500 per week for ASE workers who stop work and participate in strike duties such as picketing. It is unlawful in California for an employer to cut health benefits during a lawful strike, but in the event UC management chooses to break the law, the UAW’s Strike and Defense Fund also provides healthcare. 

Yes, international and undocumented workers are eligible for strike assistance, regardless of visa or immigration status. You would receive strike assistance of $500 per week from the UAW Strike and Defense fund to mitigate lost wages. This is similar to when workers receive Short Term Disability Benefits from an insurance company when they’re not working while on disability or pregnancy leave. Strike assistance is NOT a form of employment. You will not become an employee of the UAW by virtue of receiving strike assistance. Receiving strike assistance does not impact student visa restrictions with regard to the number of hours an international student worker is allowed to work.

No, the University cannot retaliate against you for exercising your right to participate in lawful concerted activity. When you participate in a lawful strike as an ASE, you are protected from retaliation in every aspect of your relationship to the university. You have the right to not cross the picket line, and any work that you miss while on strike may have to be made up after the strike.

Under California law, public sector employers like UC are prohibited from withholding health benefits from striking workers. If UC management does nonetheless attempt to withhold health benefits during a strike, ASEs would have our medical benefits paid through the UAW Strike and Defense Fund.

ASEs have the right to engage in a ULP strike. UC management also has the right to not pay us for the work we don’t do while on strike. In the event of a strike, ASEs who complete our strike duties and are UAW members will be eligible for $500 per week of strike assistance.