On the heels of University of California's ongoing executive pay scandals, UC's Administration is once again being denounced for misplaced priorities. For ten months, 20,000 UC medical and service workers have been trying to protect quality patient care and CA communities, reporting that lack of competitive wages is impacting the University's ability to retain its best staff. After ten months of negotiating for equal pay for equal work, they have reached impasse, and the workers announced they will take a strike vote, running from May 17th-May 22nd. A press conference will be held on May 23rd to announce the results.

According to CA State-appointed neutral Factfinder Carol Vendrillo, who independently evaluated the viability of a service workers' labor agreement, "U.C. has demonstrated the ability to increase compensation when it fits with certain priorities without any demonstrable link to a state funding source... It is time for UC to take a broader view of its priorities by honoring the important contribution that service workers make to the U.C. community and compensating them with wages that are in line with the competitive market rate." Read More

What started on May 1, 2006 as some of the largest political demonstrations in U.S. history for immigrants' rights have in 2008 brought together three fronts -- labor, immigrant, and antiwar -- in one struggle for peace and social justice.

The work stoppage at all 29 West Coast ports on May 1, 2008 by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) was an historic turning point for the U.S. labor movement. For the first time in more than seventy years, a major U.S. trade union led marches and a system-wide strike on May Day. And for the first time ever, it was not for economic reasons, but for the political demand to end the disastrous and debilitating U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The work stoppage by 25,000 dockworkers idled towering cranes and closed ports from Seattle to San Diego. Truckers refused to cross picket lines. The backlogged ports handle the steady stream of manufactured goods from off-shored factories in Asia in the new globalized economy. Read More

see also: 40-page Report from Around the World | May Day becomes an annual tradition for immigrant and workers' rights | US-IMC | Indymedia.org

Indybay 2008 May Day Coverage: San Jose: May Day Becomes an Annual Tradition for Immigrant and Workers' Rights || San Francisco State Students Walk Out, Join Workers on May Day || DASW Calls for End to the Targeting of Immigrants and Latinos to Enlist || ILWU Shuts Down All West Coast Ports To Protest War || May Day 2008 Actions in Santa Cruz and Watsonville || May Day Protests in Arcata || Reclaim the Streets In San Francisco || "Reel Work" and Solidarity at 2008 May Day Labor Film Festival || May 1st 2008 Immigrant Rights Marches and Rallies

The All-Alumni Reunion Luncheon held in the College 9/10 multipurpose room at UC Santa Cruz on April 26th was interrupted when students marched in demanding fair contracts for UCSC's underpaid service workers. The luncheon was part of the annual UCSC Reunion Weekend where alumni were invited back to campus to "learn how innovation is going global, sip wine, tour new facilities on campus, explore the "unnatural" history of UCSC, and more..." The brief interruption was widely supported by alumni who clapped, smiled, listened, and took souvenir photos as students passed out flyers, chanted and spoke on stage to inform alumni about the contract campaign for UC service workers.

Since August the UC and the service workers' union, AFSCME Local 3299, have been negotiating a new three-year contract. These negotiations present an important opportunity for workers to receive more recognition for their hard work. While George Blumenthal and other UC executives have declared their support for labor, little has been done to meet the demands of the workers. Read More and View Photos | More Photos

David Sackman comments, "I opened the door. I was the alumnus who opened the door, letting in the protestors supporting the University workers. To answer a previous post: No, it was not planned that way. I have no idea how the organizers of the protest planned it. I just know that I found myself on the wrong side of a picket line. To someone who has been involved in the labor movement since I attended UCSC myself, this was intolerable. So I opened the door, and invited my guests in." Read More

previous actions: Student and Worker Solidarity Kicks Off School Year at UCSC (September 27th, 2007) || UC Workers and Students Picket in Support of AFSCME's Contract Fight (December 6th, 2007) || UCSC Workers Offer New Year Resolutions To Shape Up UC (January 31st, 2008) || Students and Workers Block Road at UCSC to Protest Poverty Wages (February 28th, 2008) || Prospective Students of Color Visit UCSC and Demand a Fair Contract for Workers (April 11th, 2008)

Workers at Lakeside Organics in Watsonville have filed numerous complaints against their employer, including compensation disputes for denied breaks and unpaid overtime totaling more than $10,000, sexual and discriminatory harassment, unsafe working conditions such as employees developing rashes from fertilizers being applied to produce, making employees drink non-potable water "from the hose," overflowing porta-potties that were not cleaned at regular intervals, supervisors drinking on the job and verbally abusing and de-humanizing workers, lack of medical compensation for job related injuries, and "dumping" injured workers.

These complaints were issued in the fall of 2007. Long drawn-out legal efforts to hold Lakeside Organics accountable for their labor abuses have simply highlighted the discrepancy in legal resources between the laborers and the corporation. Traditional legal support systems for migrant laborers such as California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) have been systematically targeted by corporate interests that the government has come to represent. Originally funded via the federal Community Service Agency, CRLA was substantially de-funded during the Reagan administration. During the Clinton administration it was heavily restricted when "Republican [lawmakers] inserted provisions preventing representation of undocumented immigrants and preventing legal aid from collecting attorneys fees". Over the past few years, CRLA has been investigated numerous times for alleged noncompliance with federal funding restrictions, making it difficult for the agency to offer meaningful help in cases where some of the persons making claims may be out of status. Read More

English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers at the San Francisco Institute of English (3301 Balboa St. at 34th Ave.) will go on strike starting Monday, March 17 at 8:30 am to demand livable wages and the return of health care benefits. The teachers have not had a cost-of-living increase to their wages in over 12 years. And in 2004, following changes in Homeland Security procedures that negatively impacted student enrollment, the teachers' health care benefits were taken away with the promise that they would be restored once enrollment returns to pre-September 11, 2001 levels. Enrollment is back up, but the teachers have yet to see their health care returned.

Conditions in the private/non-profit ESL industry have been declining for years, made worse because this sector has traditionally been non-union. Management at the San Francisco Institute of English have refused to negotiate, and the teachers feel like they have no choice but to strike. They are asking the community to support the strike by joining the picket line and by donating to their strike fund.

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On February 28th, UC Santa Cruz workers represented by the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299, and backed by students, demonstrated for justice, dignity and a fair working contract. Over 350 people took part in the largest demonstration of the school year in support of UCSC's most underpaid workers. Instead of making demands outside the Chancellor's office, workers and students got UCSC's attention by lining McLaughlin Drive and twice shutting down Hagar Drive. Students and workers felt empowered by seeing how easily they can bring UCSC to a halt.

Workers are concerned that UC is replacing certain full-time career jobs with un-benefited per diem positions or hiring temporary workers, like registry or travelers, who have little experience working at UC. AFSCME Local 3299 members believe that contracted jobs create a second class of workers at UC, usually with lower wages and benefits. AFSCME Local 3299 members also believe that UC's use of sub-contracted, student, temp, registry workers hurts the ability of all UC workers to provide the best students services. In addition, AFSCME Local 3299 members feel that UC has been taking advantage of working students by hiring them to do the same work as AFSCME Local 3299 members but for less pay and benefits. Read More and View Photos

previous coverage: Student and Worker Solidarity Kicks Off School Year at UCSC (September 28th, 2007) || UC Workers and Students Picket in Support of AFSCME's Contract Fight (December 6th, 2007) || UCSC Workers Offer New Year Resolutions To Shape Up UC (January 31st, 2008)

On February 7th, more than 100 UNITE HERE Local 19 service sector employees and community activists protested across the street from Google Inc. headquarters in Mountain View to support workers' rights. The rally was held adjacent to the site of Google's future four-star hotel and conference center. Despite repeated requests, Google has refused to address concerns about whether future hotel workers will be able to freely choose to join a union.

Speakers at the rally included hotel workers concerned about the impact of a non-union hotel on service workers in the area. Community members voiced concerns that public land receiving public resources should reflect community values, such as the right to a living wage, as Google enters the final stage of negotiations with the City of Mountain View. Read More and Watch a Video | Photos: 1 | 2

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299 contract with the University of California (UC) expired on January 31st. AFSCME members (custodians, food service workers, gardeners, maintenance workers, shuttle drivers, and medical center workers), students, teachers, and community allies rallied at UCSC's Baytree Plaza on January 31st, then marched to the Chancellor's Office at Kerr Hall to demand justice for UC's lowest wage workers.

AFSCME Local 3299 and their allies are calling on Chancellor Blumenthal to take leadership within the UC to support UCSC workers and strengthen the broader Santa Cruz community by granting AFSCME members a fair contract with market rate standards and benefits protections. AFSCME organizers assert that, "outrageous executive compensation continues to be a top priority at UC while frontline workers struggle to make ends meet. Read More and View Photos | More Photos

see also: Student and Worker Solidarity Kicks Off School Year at UCSC (September 28th, 2007) || UC Workers and Students Picket in Support of AFSCME's Contract Fight (December 6th, 2007) || Failing California’s Communities: How the University of California’s Low Wages Affect Surrounding Cities and Neighborhoods