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thisfinecrewEarly this winter and spring before COVID reached the U.S., the University of California ASE union, UAW, organized graduate student worker actions at all nine campuses to agitate for better wages and housing relief in the face of overwhelming rent burden. UC Santa Cruz was at the forefront of the COLA movement, and its students faced the harshest (illegal) retaliation.
Carlos Cruz, a first-generation grad worker, is the only graduate student across the UC still facing discipline for his participation in labor action in Spring 2020. While all other workers have won reinstatement, Carlos is still facing a two-year suspension. Suspension in the midst of a deepening pandemic is effectively firing and deprives Carlos of healthcare through the university. The preponderance of police testimony used against Carlos, meanwhile, suggests racialized targeting.
After 11 hours of hearings and testimony, the UCSC student board had decided to drop the two-year suspension meted out to Carlos Cruz--but in an unprecedented move, a campus administrator overruled this board. Associate Vice Chancellor Sue Matthews, not party to the hearing, decided that she “did not support” this finding.
The UAW 2865 grievance against the use of student conduct to discipline labor actions is still ongoing. In addition, there is another chance for ASEs and allies to take action to protect Carlos: a final appeal in the student conduct code, to UCSC Chancellor Cythia Larive. UAW is requesting that supporters write an email or a letter to Chancellor Larive demanding that she use her authority responsibly and bring a speedy resolution to this saga by dropping all charges.
You can find addresses and a script here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qwAge-378ZZha5nGk7fE_Bgqkn0Q0-pGJn2wVlPe4x4/edit
Carlos Cruz, a first-generation grad worker, is the only graduate student across the UC still facing discipline for his participation in labor action in Spring 2020. While all other workers have won reinstatement, Carlos is still facing a two-year suspension. Suspension in the midst of a deepening pandemic is effectively firing and deprives Carlos of healthcare through the university. The preponderance of police testimony used against Carlos, meanwhile, suggests racialized targeting.
After 11 hours of hearings and testimony, the UCSC student board had decided to drop the two-year suspension meted out to Carlos Cruz--but in an unprecedented move, a campus administrator overruled this board. Associate Vice Chancellor Sue Matthews, not party to the hearing, decided that she “did not support” this finding.
The UAW 2865 grievance against the use of student conduct to discipline labor actions is still ongoing. In addition, there is another chance for ASEs and allies to take action to protect Carlos: a final appeal in the student conduct code, to UCSC Chancellor Cythia Larive. UAW is requesting that supporters write an email or a letter to Chancellor Larive demanding that she use her authority responsibly and bring a speedy resolution to this saga by dropping all charges.
You can find addresses and a script here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qwAge-378ZZha5nGk7fE_Bgqkn0Q0-pGJn2wVlPe4x4/edit
