Three unions representing about 40,000 UC academic and research employees began an unfair labor practice strike authorization vote Thursday.

The voting period for the three unions – United Auto Workers Local 4811, Research and Public Service Professionals-UAW and Student Services and Academic Professionals-UAW, who are currently in contract negotiations with the UC – is set to close Friday. The unions’ demands include better pay, job security and protections for international student workers and immigrants, according to the unions’ strike vote website.

The unions announced the strike authorization vote Jan. 12. UAW Local 4811 alleged the University has not engaged in good-faith bargaining, including by implementing unilateral changes to working conditions – which is an unfair labor practice.

[Related: Unions representing 40k academic, research UC employees announce strike vote]

UAW Local 4811 alleged on its website that UCLA has unilaterally changed its teaching assistant workload and appointment policies, including in the mathematics, English and ecology and evolutionary biology departments, according to the UAW Local 4811 website.

A UC Office of the President spokesperson called the strike vote disappointing in a written statement. The University’s proposals to the unions include a $250,000 fund for UAW-represented academic graduate student employees to consult with an external expert on visa issues and changes to monthly salary scales, the spokesperson added in the statement.

“We strongly disagree with UAW’s characterization that the University is bargaining in bad faith or acting unlawfully, and we remain committed to complying with all legal obligations, bargaining in good faith, and reaching a fair and timely agreement,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “UAW’s strike authorization vote at this stage is unnecessary and risks diverting focus from the meaningful progress being made at the bargaining table.”

The contracts for academic student employees and graduate student researchers represented by UAW Local 4811 expired Jan. 1, and negotiations began in July.

RPSP-UAW and SSAP-UAW – which represent UC research and public service staff as well as student services and advising staff, respectively – are both currently negotiating for their first contracts with the UC. RPSP-UAW and SSAP-UAW voted to unionize in September 2025 and November 2024, respectively.

UAW Local 4811 last struck in spring 2024 after filing multiple unfair labor practice charges against the UC – including one alleging the University violated its employees’ rights when it allowed law enforcement officers to use force against union members during the May 2, 2024 sweep of UCLA’s Palestine solidarity encampment.

[Related: United Auto Workers Local 4811 calls UCLA to ‘stand up,’ strike starting May 28]

Three unions which later merged to create UAW Local 4811 also struck for nearly six weeks in fall 2022 to demand better pay and benefits, in what was the largest higher education strike in U.S. history.

[Related: UAW ratifies contracts for graduate student workers, ends historic UC-wide strike]

A spokesperson for the three unions said in an emailed statement the University would benefit if it reached fair agreements with the unions.

“Our labor is the backbone of teaching and research at UC,” the spokesperson for the unions said in an emailed statement. “So if we go forward with a multi-unit statewide strike, the vast majority of teaching, research, administrative and clerical work would simply not happen.”

Nandini Inmula, a statewide elected bargaining team member of SSAP-UAW, has worked at UCLA for eight years and serves as the assistant director of career services at the Luskin School of Public Affairs. Inmula said SSAP-UAW is demanding job security in its first contract.

“The UC’s behavior has just really led to a delay in (UAW Local) 4811 being able to win a strong successor contract – but also in us, on the staff side, being able to win a really strong first contract that is transformative for the workers of the UC,” Inmula said.

The unions have also called on the University to resist the Trump administration’s research funding cuts, mass deportation campaign and visa revocations for international students. The federal government revoked the visas of at least 19 students and recent alumni in April.

The federal government, however, restored student visas in late April, while U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement created a “framework for status record termination.”

[Related: Trump administration announces restoration of international students’ visas]

UAW Local 4811 has held multiple rallies and protests across the UC since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term. The union delivered a petition with more than 10,000 signatories to the UC administration in October, demanding the University protect international workers.

[Related: UAW Local 4811 members continue negotiations amid teaching hours being cut]

Aya Konishi, an academic student employee bargaining committee member of UAW Local 4811, said she believes the UC should focus on protecting its employees – as well as the University itself – from the Trump administration.

“At this moment, when union members are under attack by Trump, the UC should side with us and choose a workers’ agenda, as opposed to Trump’s agenda,” said Konishi, a doctoral student in sociology.

Contributing reports by Josephine Murphy, National news and higher education editor