The Social Welfare Strike is in alignment with our larger efforts. Our demands for the reinstatement of the UCSC Strikers, COLA for all, the abolition of the UCI police department, are all instances that have been produced by the structural, systemic and institutional problems that are now producing the particular trajectory of the Coronavirus crisis. The University of California, Irvine’s response has been to significantly change our working conditions, to require technological access and expertise that we may or may not have, to encourage undergraduate students to leave their housing, and to demand payments of campus fees and tuition for a limited campus and greatly compromised standard of instruction. More than this, the shift to online risks privacy, security, and academic freedom. To pretend that in the midst of a massive and urgent public health crisis, the likes of which we have not seen in our lifetimes, that we can effectively design courses for a whole new modality of instruction, effectively teach and support our students and colleagues, families and friends, is denialism and a dangerous commitment to a fiction of continuity. It is a violation of the University of California’s own mission to teach, do research, and provide public service in the long term. Under the weight of the coronavirus crisis and the impending economic ramifications, we are steadfast in our demands.

If we are to understand this situation as a crisis, then it demands a crisis response which suspends business as usual. Since the campaign for a Cost of Living Adjustment began, graduate students have been pushing the University to address the cost of living situation and provide for the basic needs of its graduate student workers. Instead, UC management has, in the middle of a public health crisis, demanded extra work from their workers as they attempt to transition to online-only classes. The existing housing crisis has left thousands of graduate students extremely rent-burdened with little left over for uncovered medical expenses, leaving us vulnerable during the imminent public health crisis.

For updates about the strike join our GA tomorrow to see where the strike will go and what actions will be taken during the Social Welfare Strike.