University of Puerto Rico strikes, 2017

2017 University of Puerto Rico strikes
Date28 March 2017 - 7 June 2017
Location
University of Puerto Rico

18°24′10″N 66°3′1″W / 18.40278°N 66.05028°W / 18.40278; -66.05028
Caused byUniversity budget cuts
MethodsUniversity wide strikes
StatusEnded

The 2017 University of Puerto Rico strikes were a series of student strikes which began on 28 March 2017, when the university's campus at Rio Piedras declared a one-week shutdown, from 28 March to 5 April followed by an indefinite strike, which began on 6 April. The strikes come as a response to a budget cut of $450 million to the public university system, proposed by the controversial Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act.[1][2]

A national assembly, which took place on 5 April, was attended by ten of the eleven campuses, the University High School, the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, and the Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Diseño de Puerto Rico. They voted in favor of an indefinite system-wide strike, which began on 6 April. However, the system-wide strike affected eight of the eleven campuses immediately, as three campuses attending the assembly had not reached the required number of attendants for their votes to be counted.[3] Despite this, each of these campuses held individual assemblies which saw them vote in favor of going on strike, both indefinitely and definitely.

On May 5 the Bayamon campus voted to end the strike leaving only the Río Piedras and Humacao campuses on strike.[2] One June 5 Río Piedras voted to end their strike.[4] The strike officially ended on June 7, 2017 when the last remaining campus still on strike, Humacao, voted during an assembly to end their shutdown.[5]

  1. ^ Pacheco, Istra. "Decretan paro y huelga en la UPR". Primera Hora. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b Cordero, David. "Aprueban paro, marcha y huelga los estudiantes de la UPR Río Piedras". Metro (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  3. ^ Darmy Cortes (April 25, 2017). "The University of Puerto Rico Student Strike, Explained". Pasquines. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  4. ^ "UPR students vote to end two-month strike". Caribbean Business. 2017-06-05. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  5. ^ "Con Humacao, termina la huelga en el sistema UPR (video)". www.noticel.com. Retrieved 2021-05-26.