Fri May 11 2007 (Updated 05/12/07)
The Coup's Boots Riley Withdraws from Berkeley Graduation
On Tuesday, May 8, students from UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley occupied the UC "Anti-Poverty" Center protesting poverty wages by demanding that the UC release $8.5 million earmarked for custodians by the State Legislature. The UC administration has been holding up the money - meant for low-paid workers on 4 campuses - in an attempt to force concessions in contract negotiations. 24 protesters were cited and released. 
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Meanwhile, The Coup's Boots Riley joined actor Danny Glover in boycotting UC Berkeley's graduation speech in support of the custodians' wage-parity campaign. Alongside Riley and Glover, U.S. Congresswoman and UC Berkeley alumnus Barbara Lee, plus 2008 Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John Edwards have all lent support to the AFSCME Local 3299's demand to end to poverty wages.
The Union's actions began at UC's Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara and Irvine campuses, when it noticed that employees with similar duties at surrounding institutions make $4 to $6 more per hour.
