A California state judge ordered thousands of University of California workers to suspend their strike over the Israel-Hamas war,
Orange County Superior Court Judge Randall J. Sherman published a temporary restraining order on Friday, just days after the University of California (UC) filed a lawsuit against UAW 4811, a union representing 48,000 academic and graduate workers, alleging that their ongoing strike will cause the school system to “suffer irreparable harm.”
UC accused the union in the lawsuit, filed Tuesday, of violating its contracts and also of “putting at risk” research carried out in the school’s laboratories. The union responded, saying the school system was avoiding “responsibility” for its actions.
“We are extremely grateful for a pause in this strike so that our students can complete their academic studies. The strike would have caused irreversible setbacks in students’ academic performance and could have halted critical research projects in the last quarter,” Melissa Matella, associate vice president for labor relations at the University of California, following the judge’s ruling.
UAW 4811 represents more than 48,000 graduate students who serve in a variety of roles, such as tutors, researchers and teaching assistants. The union began the strike on May 20 in Santa Cruz. It has since expanded to UC campuses in Los Angeles Davis, Santa Barbara, Irvine and San Diego.
Union members previously said their freedom of expression was stifled when school leaders called on authorities to forcibly remove pro-Palestinian camps.
UAW 4811 he said Friday night that the “fight” is far from over and stated that “the law is on our side and we are prepared to continue defending our rights”.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
