The coalition of UC unions condemns Trump’s attacks on the University of California and the Californian economy

UC Santa Barbara on March 5, 2020     

On Friday August 8, the Trump administration demanded a $1 billion "settlement" from UCLA after freezing $584 million in federal grants for vital scientific and health research. The proposed $1 billion agreement would be the largest settlement since Trump began extorting universities, and marks the first attempt of the federal government to ransom payment from a public university. These attacks have been waged under the guise of fighting antisemitism and investigating alleged Title VII violations, but we see them for what they are: an attempt to cripple public higher education in the nation’s premier public university system. 

The coalition of UC unions urges the University of California not to capitulate to the Trump administration

In a message to the UC community on August 8, President Milliken asserted that this payment would "completely devastate our country’s greatest public university system as well as inflict great harm on our students and all Californians." The Regents now have to decide if they will surrender to the Trump administration’s demands. As workers who have fought for academic freedom, equity in the workplace, and economic justice, we urge the Regents to refuse any compromise that undermines our values and puts workers at risk. Capitulating to the Trump administration will not only harm crucial life-saving research and healthcare, and the California taxpayers who have funded it, but will also undermine the educational experience of hundreds of thousands of present and future UC students, and threaten a major engine of the Californian and national economy. The University of California system:

• Is California’s third largest employer, with spending and activities that support more than a half million jobs across California.  
• Powers cutting edge innovation, producing an average of five inventions every day and powering California’s tech sector, biotech breakthroughs, climate solutions, and medical advancements. 
• Produces  $21 in economic output for every $1 of investment in the UC
• Generates  $82 billion in annual economic activity, helping to make California the fourth largest economy in the world.

It is imperative that in their response to this attack, UC leaders negotiate with the knowledge that what is at stake is not just research grant funding for UCLA, but the future of federal funding for the UC system, California’s political autonomy, and public higher education across the U.S. For that reason, President Milliken and the Regents should exhaust all available resources to  resist the Trump administration’s extortion and protect our scientific enterprise and the values that undergird its excellence.

The coalition of UC unions demands that the California state government step up to fight fascism and defend the future of the Californian economy.

While the current onslaught has little parallel, Californians have confronted threats to higher education before. Twenty years ago, when stem cell research was restricted under the Bush administration, the people of California voted overwhelmingly for the state to take the lead and fund new initiatives, which lead to groundbreaking research that has informed treatments for Parkinsons, spinal cord injury, and Type 1 diabetes. 

 

Trump’s assault is a clear attack not only on public higher education but on the most progressive state in the country. California has led the way on many progressive fronts, and it is time for it to set an example for the rest of the country in fighting fascism. California was the first state to legally end school segregation; Trump is trying to resegregate the public university.  The UC educates more first-generation and low-income students than any other major research university system in the country; Trump is trying to discontinue scholarships that support economic mobility and lift families out of poverty. California has led the charge in providing quality access to gender-affirming care and become a sanctuary state for transgender individuals; Trump is trying to end access to life-saving care and medication. California was the first state to commit to a statewide $15 per hour minimum wage for large employers; Trump is threatening half a million jobs and job security across the state. 

 

California can lead the way once again and defend public education and the future of the Californian economy: instead of continuing the historical trajectory of declining per-student funding, it is time for the state of California to stand its ground, for Newsom to double down on his fight against Trump’s regime, and for the legislature to increase funding to the UC to support the vital role it plays in millions of Californian lives and livelihoods.

 

Together we, employees of the University of California, demand: 

No concessions

No capitulation

No cuts

 

Yes to jobs

Yes to educating future leaders 

Yes to healthcare autonomy 

Yes to lifesaving research

Yes to protecting an engine of economic mobility

 

Signed, 

Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA)

UC American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT), 

American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees 

(AFSCME) 3299 

California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee 

(CNA-NNOC) 

Committee of Interns and Residents-Service Employees International Union 

(CIR-SEIU)

United Auto Workers (UAW) 4811

American Association of University Professors (AAUP)