Hi everyone,
I wanted to make sure that you all had this information about the strike
tomorrw. See you on the line!
best,
Alexis
Why the heck is there a campus-wide STRIKE tomorrow?
A FAQ for Graduate Students and TAs
Campus service (AFSCME) workers have voted overwhelmingly - 92% -- to go
on strike Tomorrow, Thursday April 14th. Campus clerical workers will be
sympathy striking in support of service workers. These majorities and
shows of solidarity are suggestive of the trenchant frustration with
poverty-wages and the structural racism and sexism shaping promotional
practices at UC.
Academic Student Employees (including TAs) have the contactual right to
sympathy strike in support of AFSCME. For more on your rights, please
check this out:
http://www.uaw2865.org/INFOFORSYMPATHYSTRIKERS.html (Who's computer is this?)
Who are AFSCME and CUE?
AFSCME stands for: American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Workers
CUE stands for: Coalition of University Employees
AFSCME service workers include shuttle drivers, groundskeepers, janitors,
and dining hall workers. CUE clerical workers include, department
managers, undergraduate advisors, and library assistants.
What are the Issues?
Campus service and clerical workers have all been working without
contracts since this fall. Both have experienced extremely sluggish
bargaining by UC, or what the unions term the "ongoing unfair practice of
intimidation and interference." The University has been bargaining in bad
faith.
Beyond bad faith bargaining, the primary concern shared by both unions is
poverty-wages. Over 85% of workers on this campus make below a living
wage. Moreover, service workers have not seen a raise since 2002, and
clericals since 2003. Meanwhile health care costs, parking expenses, and
the general cost of living are on the rise. These extra costs are
equivalent to a pay cut.
Worker frustration with poverty-wages was only aggravated when it was
recently discovered that $2.4 million dollars was given in bonuses to UC
execs last year.
Beyond wages, here are the workers' primary frustrations:
For AFSCME:
· Structural racism and sexism currently shape promotional practices for
service workers - women and people of color are overly represented in
low-wage entry-level positions. Racist and sexist promotional practices
need to stop.
· Workers want careers, not dead-end jobs. A number of AFSCME workers have
held entry-level positions for years, without opportunities for
advancement. The workers are asking that clearer career paths be
established.
For CUE:
· Parity! Santa Cruz County is one of the most expensive places to live in
California, and yet UCSC clericals are paid less than their colleagues at
other UCs. This is because UCSC is classified as a 'rural campus.' This is
an antiquated classification that needs to be lifted; it is keeping UCSC
clericals from the wages required to get by in this community.
But isn't UC suffering from a Budget Crisis?
Last year, the UC made $786 million more than it spent. This is $227
million more in surplus than it made last year. A recent neutral study
found that the University's pattern of taking in millions more than it
spends is not going to change. Where is the budget crisis? For more on
this check out: www.cueunion.org
As a Teaching Assistant, will I be penalized for sympathy striking?
No.
Here is the good word from our Union:
"AFSCME asks that UAW Local 2865 members at the UC Santa Cruz campus, and
other workers who also have the right to do so, respect their picket lines
on April 14th. This means that you wouldn't perform any of your assigned
work duties including teaching, consulting with students about class work,
and emailing or posting assignments. It also means not making up "struck
work" later in the term, unless specifically directed to do so (in which
case, call the Union office immediately to inform us and to protect your
rights). If you are given any forms to report work you have not performed,
please call the UAW office immediately for advice on responding.
People might have a variety of reasons for respecting the picket line.
These can include acting out of conscience, addressing concerns of
personal safety, building solidarity and power, and supporting the service
workers with whom we work.
Whether or not you choose to exercise your contractual right to honor the
picket line, we also encourage UAW Local 2865 members to walk the picket
lines with AFSCME when you are able--report to the main picket site on
campus from 8 am to 5 pm."
Finally, why should I walk the line with AFSCME and CUE?
As TAs: Service and Clerical workers supported our bid for a fair contract
last year - the result was one of the strongest contracts for academic
student employees in the nation. It is time for us to reciprocate and
support service and clerical workers in their fight for just wages and
decent working conditions.
Moreover, we will be renegotiating our contract with the University next
spring. AFSCME and CUE will support us then. NOW is the time for us to
support them. This is what 'solidarity' means.
As Students: As members of this community, we are concerned and upset
when some among us are suffering. The mistreatment of CUE and AFSCME
workers is an offense to the values we hold as a community: gender and
racial justice, and wages that enable everyone to live with dignity.
Supporting service and clerical workers in their fight for fair contracts
is a crucial part of realizing these values.
Moreover, we recognize that the same skewed budget priorities resulting in
poverty wages for campus clerical and service workers are also responsible
for our diminished funding opportunities. Graduate students, campus
workers, undergraduates, and faculty all have a common concern: UC's
undemocratic budgetary process and the gross mal-distribution that
results.
For an analysis of the connections between student, worker, and faculty
concerns at UCSC, please see this pamphlet produced by six of your fellow
graduate students:
http://users.resist.ca/~chrisd/UCSCcrisis.pdf (Who's computer is this?)