On Wednesday, members of the United Auto Workers Local 4811 — a union that represents 48,000 student workers and researchers across the University of California system — voted to authorize a strike against their employer. The vote comes in response to some campuses’ use of police force to break up protests in support of Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war.

UAW 4811 represents workers in nearly every aspect of academic life, from undergraduate tutors and readers to postdocs and researchers. About 41% of members participated in the vote, and an overwhelming majority approved of the measure, according to a union statement Wednesday night. Today on AirTalk, we discuss the strike authorization and get the latest on UC Irvine’s protests after police cleared out a student encampment. Joining is Yusra Farzan, LAist reporter, Anny Viloria Winnett, graduate student worker at UCLA and the unit chair of UAW at UCLA, and John Logan, director of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University.

With files from LAist. Read more here