Feature Archives

On September 27th, the first day of UCSC's Fall quarter, service workers organized with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299 initiated an informational picket in the Baytree Plaza demanding a fair labor contract. Workers, some with their families, were joined by student allies for a rally to send a strong message to UC administration that AFSCME, the Student Worker Coalition for Justice and graduate students organized with UAW Local 2865 are united in demanding that UC prioritize workers, students and their families.

United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2865, the Union representing over 12,000 Teaching Assistants, Tutors, and Readers throughout the University of California (UC) system, is in the process of filing dozens of unfair labor practice (ULPs) charges against the UC. The Union may call a strike over these ULPs if the charges are not resolved and agreement reached by the expiration of the current contract, September 30th. UAW 2865 recently released a public statement which had over 6,500 signatures from members.

Ike Solem writes, "Let me point out here that the University has proposed to set aside $70 million for a new "Biomedical Research Facility" [at UC Santa Cruz] for the year 2007-2008. This facility is unlikely to do much for undergraduate research, and represents a continuation of the ongoing corporatization of the University of California. The research done there will undoubtedly be done for the benefit of private pharmaceutical corporations, a theme that is already quite common in the Chemistry Department."

Progressive Lawyering Day is a free annual conference organized by Bay Area National Lawyers Guild students. Attorney and advocate Banafsheh Akhlaghi, founder and president of the National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement, gave the keynote address at this year's event on September 15th in San Francisco.

On August 29, the University of California Police Department staged an early morning operation at the Memorial Oak Grove located on the South East of the UC Berkeley campus. UCPD officers erected a ten foot high chain-link fence along the perimeter of the tree-sits to prevent supporters from bringing food and water to the tree-sitters. Support marches are leaving from the Oak Grove at noon on both Friday, August 31st and Saturday, September 1st. An emergency hearing was scheduled for Thursday at 1:30pm in Alameda County Superior Court, to consider whether the fencing of the oak grove is a violation of the current court ordered injunction.

The Watsonville Brown Berets presented the 7th annual Youth & Power Conference consisting of music, activism and organizing tables, art, dance, culture, speakers, free food and more. This year's conference took place at the Vet’s Hall in Watsonville on August 14th.

The Board of Regents of the University of Colorado in Boulder voted 8 to 1 Tuesday, July 24th to fire tenured professor of Ethnic Studies Ward Churchill on charges of research misconduct. Churchill maintains that the allegations were a pretext to remove him for his controversial political views.