So it’s come to this: the University of California is now arresting striking workers, their leaders and supporters for legally sanctioned labor activity.

A union leader arrived at UC-Santa Cruz in the pre-dawn hours with dozens of union members and student activists to set up a picket line for a strike. A large battalion of police officers were already there when they arrived — in riot gear and with wagons standing by. The picketers were almost immediately are confronted by the police.

As can be seen in this video, a union leader approaches a group of ten or so officers, talking to them calmly, identifying himself, explaining what the workers and students are doing and why they have a right to be there. They are not blocking traffic, and in fact are on the campus of a state university.

The police tell the union leader, “This is your final warning.” The representative tells them, again calmly, that he will move back, as instructed. He is immediately grabbed by several officers and thrown to the ground. They handcuff him with a zip cord and push him all the way onto the ground, face down. He screams in pain as the others look on in horror. He’s taken off to the wagon.

Shortly after, nineteen more are taken to jail. Many are treated roughly by the police, despite offering no resistance. They are held for ten hours, the duration of the first day’s strike, and then released with absurdly harsh charges. The following day, two additional supporters are arrested.

These events occurred last week during a statewide unfair labor practice strike by my union, UAW 2865, the UC Student-Workers Union, which represents 13,000 teaching assistants, tutors and readers at the University of California.

The strike itself had been called to protest illegal intimidation and surveillance by management. Since we began our contract campaign last June, and especially since we called a strike in solidarity with UC service workers protesting illegal intimidation against their members in the fall, UC management has launched a sustained campaign of intimidation and threats against UAW members.

Examples are numerous. In the days preceding the solidarity strike last fall, UCLA management illegally warned international student workers that striking could mean the loss of their visas. At UC Berkeley, the Vice Chancellor informed management that the strike was illegal and asked that they tell workers “they must meet their scheduled teaching responsibilities.”

During the fall solidarity strike itself, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz police filmed union members striking — even though it’s unlawful under labor law for employers to film protected activities undertaken by employees. In the week preceding a potential grievance strike at UC Santa Cruz this spring (later called off because of a successful resolution), the director of the Writing Program went as far as to threaten UAW members, telling them they would not work again in his department if they participated in the upcoming strike.