News

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Faculty File Historic Academic Freedom Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against UC

Byadmin

Faculty from across the UC system — long synonymous with the Free Speech Movement — have organized to fight a systematic, illegal campaign to repress academic freedom  via cucfa.org Los Angeles, CA – Today, the Council of University of California Faculty Associations (CUCFA) and faculty associations from seven University of California (UC) campuses filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against the UC administration with the California Public Employee Relations Board (PERB). This systemwide ULP filing builds on a filing by the UCLA Faculty Association this spring. It asserts that UC violated the law, its own policies, and both the…

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UCLA Faculty Association Condemns UC Sidestepping Labor Board, Ongoing Rights Violations on Campus 

Byadmin

Last week, the University of California (UC) circumvented acceptable labor dispute practices to pause the UAW 4811 unfair labor practice (ULP) strike. The strike was twice allowed to proceed by the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), the labor body which will ultimately determine the strike’s legality. This extreme approach by the UC is deeply concerning because it undermines labor laws and the right of PERB to adjudicate labor disputes. We should all be concerned when our administration sidesteps best processes and “venue shops” until they find a court likely to decide in their favor. Such repressive, anti-labor tactics are typical…

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What to do when grades come due? CUCFA Virtual Town Hall, Fri 7/7 @ noon

Byadmin

Many UCLA faculty are teaching courses with TAs who are on strike, and therefore striking TAs may not be grading final assignments and exams. What does this mean for us as faculty? What does it mean for our undergraduates, their courses, and their final grades?  The UCLA Faculty Association invites all UCLA faculty to participate in a Virtual Town Hall Meeting this Friday, June 7 from 12-1PM hosted by CUCFA (Council of UC Faculty Associations). This meeting is intended to be an opportunity for faculty to think through and share the policies that have been devised by other faculty at…

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UCLA-FA files Unfair Labor Practices charge against UC

Byadmin

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 5, 2024) – On June 3rd, the UCLA Faculty Association (UCLAFA) filed unfair labor practice (ULP) charges against the University of California (UC) to vindicate faculty rights to protest, organize, and exercise academic freedom. The ULP charges the UC for UCLA’s failure to uphold, and their choice to interfere with, faculty’s legally protected rights during and after the recent UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment. This is the fourth organization to file a ULP against the UC in the wake of its actions at UCLA in late April and early May, following charges by UAW, UC-AFT and AFSCME….

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Know Your Rights: Faculty and the UAW Strike

Byadmin

As many of you are aware, UC graduate students and academic workers belonging to United Auto Workers Local 4811 have voted to authorize a strike in the wake of vigilante and police violence against UCLA students, staff, and faculty on April 30 and May 2. The UAW is striking over alleged UC unfair labor practices (ULPs) in violation of HEERA. A strike over severe ULPs is protected by the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) even when there is a general no-strike clause in the union’s contract. It is the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB), not the UC, that would…

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Faculty statements on campus protest crackdown

Byhigbie

We will update this page as more statements come in… Departmental Statements Chicana/o and Central American Studies Faculty Statement Asian American Studies Department Solidarity Statement Statement of Members of the Department of History in Response to Clearing the Encampment, 2 May 2024 Statement of Members of the Department of Classics on the University’s Failure to Protect Student Protestors Statement by Members of the Department of English, Comparative Literature, and Writing Programs in response to the forcible removal of the Student Encampment  Statement of Members of the UCLA Department of History Faculty in Response to the Attack on the Encampment on…

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Faculty associations address UCOP

Byhigbie

The UCLA Faculty Association is part of a UC-wide coalition of faculty associations known as CUCFA–the Coalition of UC Faculty Associations. Through CUCFA, UC faculty are able to address the UC Office of the President on issues of importance to faculty, their students, and staff. Below is a round-up of recent communication between CUCFA and UCOP. UC Union Coalition on Health Insurance Costs CUCFA signed on to a joint letter from unions representing employees across the UC system expressing concern with large increases in the cost of health insurance. The unions requested a meeting to “address what appears to be…

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Post-strike grading

Byhigbie

The UAW strike is over, but considerable fall quarter grading remains unfinished. Senate and Unit-18 faculty are not obliged and cannot be compelled to complete grading that was assigned to readers and graduate student instructors during the fall quarter. The university can hire readers and teaching assistants (including those employed during the fall) to complete the grading with appropriate compensation. Leaders of UC Faculty Associations, UC-AFT, and UAW issued a letter to UCOP Labor Relations calling for central funding of the extra costs associated with completing fall grading. You can read the letter here and below: January 4, 2023 Letitia…

FAQs Part Three: More Q’s About Grading

Bycucfastaff

This is the third in a series of CUCFA’s FAQ’s about the UAW strike. The first set of FAQs is available here. The second set is available here. Q1: Who will be responsible for the grading when the strike is resolved? A1: If a settlement is reached before the end of the current quarter/semester, your existing ASE may be able to complete the grading, but only if it fits within their contractual workload limits. If a resolution is not reached until the next quarter/semester, an agreement about grading may be part of the settlement between UC and UAW. If not,…

Response to message from Provost and EVP of Academic Affairs Michael Brown

Bycucfastaff

Dear Colleagues, On Thursday, December 1, Senate faculty received a potentially misleading email from the President’s Office of the University of California, titled “Regarding Faculty Rights and Responsibilities,” and signed by Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Michael Brown. This communication fails to distinguish between being on strike and declining to pick up struck labor. It is the case that the university may dock pay for any faculty on strike, although it is unclear precisely how they would enforce that policy. Faculty pay can only be docked for the period during which they choose to strike, not for…