17 Arrested During UC Santa Cruz Graduate Student Protests

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Picketing continued at University of California, Santa Cruz Thursday after 17 people were arrested during demonstrations Wednesday, organizers say. Graduate students have entered their fourth day of a strike to call for higher pay to afford the high cost of living.

The students were arrested around noon Wednesday after police issued multiple orders to leave the Bay and High streets intersection, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. Students locked arms and police dragged away 17 people, arresting them for charges such as unlawful assembly, blocking a public roadways and disobeying a lawful order, the paper reported.

Organizers said on Twitter that one hundred police officers were at the scene and engaged in a four-hour standoff with protesters. Santa Cruz police did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

Traffic flowed Thursday at both entrances to the campus, UCSC said. Organizers planned to picket from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The demonstrations and strike are the latest developments in a months-long effort to get higher pay for graduate students. Students withheld undergraduate grades and began a strike Monday, refusing to teach, grade, hold office hours or research.

The striking grad students are asking for a $1,412 cost of living adjustment. The current contract for student workers includes a 3 percent increase per year to reflect the cost of living, but the students say it's not enough.

The university announced last month plans to offer doctoral students support packages and create a need-based housing supplement program to offer $2,500 until more graduate housing is available.

Graduate students told campus administrators that the offer was encouraging but insufficient, and hundreds of students would go on strike. The so-called wildcat strike is being performed without authorization from the UAW 2865 union that represents UC student works, the Sentinel reported.

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