David JekelThis week graduate students and a postdoc at UC San Diego got arrested and charged with 'vandalism' and 'conspiracy' for a labor protest. They wrote with chalk and washable paint about the fact that the University has not paid them enough as dictated by the union contract and table talk. The University, specifically the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, changed their appointment percentage from 50% to 43% in order to avoid giving them a raise.
Here is a local news article about it: https://www.kpbs.org/news/local/2023/06/30/uc-san-diego-student-workers-arrested-after-allegations-of-conspiracy-and-vandalism
They are gathering signatures on this petition:
https://www.change.org/p/tell-uc-to-drop-their-charges-against-protesting-workers
Please share it widely!
A couple weeks ago, the university leveled student conduct violations against grad students who staged a protest at an alumni event about the same labor violations from the university, and other similar issues. They accused the students of assaulting the chancellor and threatening health and safety, when the action was completely nonviolent. The student conduct process is still ongoing...
In summary, the university's retaliation is very overpowered compared to the modest demands and peaceful demonstrations from the grad student and postdoc workers.
Moreover, this is another reminder that the cops are not your friends, no matter how nicely you behave.
UC San Diego student workers arrested after allegations of conspiracy and vandalism
Three student workers were arrested and jailed following allegations from UCSD of felony conspiracy and vandalism. They are members of UAW Local 2865, which says the university administration has refused to implement their new contracts ratified last December.
Ioannis Konstantoulas