National Right to Work Foundation Sues UCLA Over Public Records Request for Union “Strategic Research” Workshops
UCLA administrators have stonewalled requests regarding taxpayer-funded events designed to expand Big Labor’s forced-dues ranks
Los Angeles, CA (November 20, 2025) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has just filed a lawsuit against the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). The case challenges the university’s failure to produce public records regarding two conferences promoting aggressive union campaign tactics. Foundation attorneys filed the lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday.
The Foundation litigates hundreds of cases each year for working men and women who face abuses of their individual rights due to compulsory unionism. Foundation cases often involve men and women who want to resist unionization campaigns at their workplaces, but face intimidation, threats, and other coercion from union officials and other union operatives.
Both events about which the Foundation requested information dealt with so-called “strategic research,” a tactic that “prioritizes gathering targeted information” to find new businesses and workers on which to launch unionization campaigns or other campaigns. The events, titled the “UCLA Strategic Labor Research Conference” and “Private Equity Research Strategies,” both had heavy political overtones as well, with the former drawing attendees “working outside labor in adjacent social movements, like climate change, food justice and housing,” according to UCLA’s website. Both gatherings took place between April and August of 2024.
Union officials wield significant influence at UCLA. Currently, the university is subject to at least 16 union monopoly bargaining contracts, including with the powerful United Auto Workers (UAW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and other unions.
According to the complaint, the Foundation submitted public records requests for documents, presentation materials, speaker information, and related items for both events on August 18, 2025. UCLA public records staff acknowledged the requests promptly, but have delayed any substantive response.
Notably, the Foundation’s requests are similar to requests made by others about the same events near the beginning of 2025. As the lawsuit points out, this means UCLA officials should have compiled and produced these documents earlier this year. Their failure to produce the documents to the Foundation in late 2025 shows the officials have ignored their legal obligation under the California Public Records Act for nearly a year now.
“The CPRA requires that an agency produce records responsive to a request made by a member of the public promptly, and Defendants’ conduct constitutes an unlawful and bad-faith delay in violation of this statutory duty,” the complaint says. “Through this unjustified delay, Respondents have denied Petitioner access to responsive public records without legal basis.”
Section 6258 of the California Government Code authorizes declarative or injunctive relief for those who wish to enforce their right to inspect or receive a public record.
“Poll after poll shows that Americans overwhelmingly oppose forcing workers to pay union dues as a condition of employment. So it is outrageous that taxpayers appear to be funding conferences specifically designed to coordinate how to expand union bosses’ forced-dues ranks,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “The public deserves to know what kind of tactics – and potentially radical political activity – the UCLA administration is using taxpayer dollars to promote, as well as what role union officials have in pushing their agenda at one of the nation’s largest public college campuses.”
National Right to Work Foundation Issues Notice to University of California Graduate Students Amid UAW Strike Orders
Foundation informs students of right to resign union membership and complete academic responsibilities despite politicized union strike command
California (May 21, 2024) – The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation has released a special legal notice to graduate students, teaching assistants, and researchers across the University of California system. The notice comes as officials of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union have ordered a strike at UC Santa Cruz over the university’s position on the Israel-Hamas conflict and related campus protests.
Union officials have indicated that similar strike orders could soon be in effect at other UC system schools and that the union’s strike authorization means these orders could be in effect until June 30. The notice provides legal information to the roughly 50,000 unionized students, a small fraction of which voted to approve the strike action.
The full notice is available at www.nrtw.org/UCstrike.
The Foundation’s legal notice informs UC graduate students of their right to resign union membership and resume their academic responsibilities. “This situation raises serious concerns for graduate students who believe there is much to lose from a union ordered strike,” the notice says. “Seven UC undergraduate campuses have exams scheduled for the second week of June, meaning the strike order is likely to cause major disruptions.”
“The Foundation wants you to learn about your legal rights from independent sources,” says the notice. “You should not rely on what self-interested union officials tell you.”
UC Graduate Students Must Resign Union Membership Before Returning to Work
The notice explains that, under California public sector labor law, graduate students who wish to resume working during the strike should resign their union memberships at least one day before returning to work if they want to avoid union discipline. “Union officials can (and often do) levy thousands of dollars in fines against union members who work during a strike,” reads the notice. “So, if you are currently a member, resigning your membership before you work during a strike is the most effective way to avoid union fines and other discipline.”
Links to sample union resignation letters and the Foundation’s page for requesting free legal aid are provided.
Janus Supreme Court Decision Also Protects Students’ Right to Stop Dues Payments to UAW
UC graduate students, who are considered “public employees” for the purposes of unionization, also have a First Amendment right to cut off dues deductions to the UAW as per the Foundation-won Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision, the notice says. “[U]nion officials can only deduct union dues from a person’s paycheck if that person has affirmatively consented to pay,” the notice details, while also explaining that union officials sometimes try to limit when employees can stop union dues and that Foundation attorneys can provide legal aid if students encounter any difficulties in that regard.
The notice concludes by explaining that UC graduate students have a right to petition for a vote to end the UAW’s monopoly bargaining power, with a link to more information on California’s public sector law regarding union “decertification elections.”
“There is good reason to believe that this UAW boss-ordered strike may violate California law, but because that is still being determined, it is important that student ‘employees’ impacted by the strike know their legal rights to protect themselves against union retribution if they exercise their right not to join the strike action,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “University of California graduate students may oppose this strike simply because they want to complete their end-of-semester responsibilities efficiently and without disruption, notwithstanding the UAW’s combative reaction to controversial and divisive protests.
“Graduate students’ ability to complete their work can’t be stripped away by UAW union officials’ eagerness to make a political statement, and Foundation attorneys stand ready to defend these students’ right to work independently of union strike diktats,” added Mix.
