Fiat Respect: UC Clericals and Lecturers Strike of 2002

Synopsis

What does it mean when workers choose to withhold their labor from one of the largest public employers in the State of California, the University of California? In the fall of 2002, thousands of clerical workers, lecturers, and their allies at five different campuses of the University of California held a two-day strike, making it the largest in UC history. FIAT RESPECT highlights the solidarity between clerical workers, lecturers, students, and community members on the picket lines at UC Santa Cruz. FIAT RESPECT also demonstrates the radical, politicizing potential that strikes and other job actions at universities hold for the student populations, the workers themselves, and the community at large.

Our Role

Regan Brashear directed and produced FIAT RESPECT while working as a union organizer for the clerical union at UC, the Coalition of University Employees (CUE). The film was used as an organizing tool for UC unions and in classes on labor history and activism.