Occupy Cal Calls For Strike

Posted by Rachel Krantz on November 14, 2011

Students at the University of California, Berkeley lock arms last week at Sproul Plaza. Photo: @MattKrupnick

Occupy Cal held an emergency press conference today to alert the public to their plans for a campus strike tomorrow, November 15^th.

Tomorrow’s strike calls for all students and teachers not to attend class and to participate in Day of Action activities. At 2 PM there will be a rally against police violence , and at 5 PM there will be a general assembly at Sproul Plaza on Berkeley’s campus.

“I hope tomorrow’s strike will get people talking about what’s happening at Berkeley,” said Eva Hagberg, a Graduate Student at UC Berkeley and an organizer with Occupy Cal.

“As soon as I told my students what was happening — about the fee hikes — they all wanted to participate,” Hagberg said.

Occupy Cal is calling for a strike tomorrow largely in response to violent police action against protestors last Wednesday. Organizers are calling for accountability from Berkeley Chancellor Birgenau, who claims that last Wednesday’s protestors action of linking arms was “not non-violence”.

A group of students beaten by police that night announced that they are filing a lawsuit against the The University and campus police. The group is also calling on Chancellor Birgenau to resign.

“I chose Berkeley for its history of activism and free speech,” said Francisco Alvarado, a Graduate Student participating in the lawsuit. “We have an administration that mocks this history with police brutality. That administration needs to change.”

Jessica Shaffer, another Graduate Student who was says she was beaten last Wednesday, agrees.

“I plan to strike on tomorrow,” Shaffer said. “I was in the front row when police came in [last Wednesday]. I did not follow orders to disperse because I was not camping. I was hit in the jaw, and knocked to the ground by police. I stood up, and having nowhere to go, I was once hit again in the jaw by a baton.”

Several other students shared stories of being beaten by police that day, and stressed that their emotional trauma was even worse than any physical bruises. Still, many are hopeful for their movement’s future, and say they are not deterred by violence.

“I want to thank Chancellor Birgenau for galvanizing this movement and inspiring so many other students to come out and support it,” Shaffer told a cheering crowd.

Occupy Cal’s official statement emphasizes that tomorrow’s strike is not just about protesting police brutality. Also at the top of the list are demands that the University allow protestors to set up tents, and reverse recent tuition hikes.

“UC Regents have accelerated their push to privatize the University,” Occupy Cal’s statement reads. “[This is] subjecting students to unsustainable levels of debt, excluding increasing numbers of students, and further resegregating public education in California.”

A formal inauguration of Occupy Cal’s Day of Action will commence at 12 PM tomorrow at Sproul Hall.

Related posts:

1. Is It Too Soon For Planned Occupy Oakland General Strike?
2. UPDATE: Protesters And Police Clash At Cal Berkeley
3. [VIDEO] Turnstyle Asks: Why Are You Joining The Occupy Oakland General Strike?
4. [PHOTOS] Occupy Oakland’s General Strike Begins Promptly At 9a.m.
5. Teachers And Service Workers Support General Strike Without Striking