UC Workers Striking Tomorrow

MEDIA ADVISORY
April 12, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contacts:
Faith Raider, Spokesperson Paul Worthman, Chief Negotiator
510-844-1160 x110 510-292-6662 (cell)
415-254-2475 (cell) Craig Merrilees, Director
fraider [at] afscme3299.org 510-774-5325 (cell)

UC Service Workers to Strike
Thursday, April 14, for One Day

April 12, 2005, Oakland, CA – The lowest paid workers at the University of California will go on strike early on Thursday, April 14, to make UC a better place to live, study and work and to protest UC’s refusal to bargain in good faith, unless the University significantly alters its positions before then.

7,300 UC service workers – mostly immigrant and minority employees who serve food, clean buildings and grounds, drive buses and provide other essential services – are represented by AFSCME Local 3299. UC service workers voted by a 92% margin in mid-March to take this action to protest the lack of training and promotion opportunities and the poverty wages that don’t support families, as students pay more for less services and top UC executives get huge raises and bonuses.

The strike will begin at all nine campuses, five medical centers, and the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, with the first employee shift Thursday morning and end with the last shift in the evening.

Local contacts, rally schedules and locations are as follows:

Location Contact Phone Rally times & locations
UC Berkeley Campus Debra Grabelle 510-774-4048 Noon-1 pm, Sproul Plaza; 4-5 pm, International House
UC San Francisco Medical Center Betsy Twitchell 510-282-2338 Noon-1 pm, 3:30-5:30 pm, in front of main hospital (513 Parnassus)
UC Santa Cruz Campus Max Bell Alper 831-818-9732 Noon-1 pm, main campus entrance
UC Davis Campus Cody Potter 916-717-5877 3:30-4:30 pm, Mrak Hall
Location Contact Phone Rally time & location
UC Davis Medical Center Meredith Schafer 916-825-3214 1 pm, main medical center entrancenear corner of Stockton Blvd and X St.
UC Los Angeles Campus Nicole Moore 323-309-1046 3 pm, above Ackerman Student Union at end of Westwood Blvd. on campus; 8 pm vigil, De Neve dorm
UC Los Angeles Medical Center Nicole Moore 323-309-1046 9 am picket, Westwood UCLA hospital, Jules Stein entrance (east side of Westwood Blvd, between Charles Young Dr. & Le Conte)
UC Irvine Campus Roxana Guevara 626-523-4309 7-8 am,11:30-1 pm, 4-5 pm, Campus Dr.
UC Irvine Medical Center Roxana Guevara 626-523-4309 7-8 am,11:30-1 pm, 4-5 pm, 6-7 pm, in front of medical center main entrance
UC San Diego Campus Claude Piller 619-540-4901 7-11 am and 3-5 pm, intersection of Viva La Jolla & Gilman drives
UC San Diego Medical Center Claude Piller 619-540-4901 Noon-1 pm, main entrance of Hillcrest Medical Center (200 Arbor Dr.) 2-4 pm, main entrance of Thornton Medical Center (9300 Campus Point Dr.)
UC Riverside Campus Werner Marroquin 909-821-8012 Noon, main entrance on West Campus Dr.
UC Santa Barbara Campus Vu Nyugen 805-207-3223 Noon, in front of the Davidson library

Contact:Faith Raider, AFSCME Spokesperson510-844-1160 x110fraider [at] afscme3299.org Paul Worthman,Chief Negotiator510-292-6662Craig Merrilees,AFSCME Director510-774-5325

UC Service Workers Announce Strike on April 14
One-day strike to protest illegal, bad-faith bargaining by UC

April 4, 2005, Oakland, CA – AFSCME Local 3299, the union that represents the lowest paid workers at the University of California, today sent a notice to University officials setting a system-wide strike on Thursday, April 14, 2005, for 7,300 service workers if UC continues to bargain in bad faith and refuses to sign a fair contract.

The notice coincides with the resumption of negotiations with a state mediator today following the issue of a fact-finder’s report and recommendations to union and management negotiators on March 30. Under the state’s bargaining law for higher education, the parties are required to resume negotiations and use those recommendations in an effort to reach an agreement.

“We have decided to take this measured step to send UC a strong message that we are serious about our demands, without causing long-term disruption to students and others who use campus services,” said Jose Lara, a food service worker at UCLA who earns $8.62 per hour. “If UC does not change its position, we will take additional militant actions that may cause more service disruption.” Lara is on the elected bargaining team that negotiates for the service workers.

AFSCME Local 3299 has filed unfair labor practice charges with state regulators to demand that UC give workers information it is illegally withholding, bargain on important issues like workload, worker rights and sweatshop-free uniforms as the law requires, and stop interfering with members’ rights and attempting to intimidate them. Negotiations have also stalled on over 30 issues, including fair wages and an end to discrimination and favoritism in hiring and promotions.

The strike notice was sent after 92% of service workers who serve food, clean buildings, and help run the nine campuses and five medical centers voted in mid-March to strike. The contract expired June 30, 2004 and was extended to January 31, 2005. The bargaining committee met with UC management 27 times since July 2004 before declaring impasse and entering state-mandated mediation and fact-finding.

UC service employees are mostly immigrants and minorities who have not received a raise in over two years. A recent report issued by the National Economic Development and Law Center found that almost half of UC’s service workers earned wages too low to support a four-person family even if they had a working spouse. It also found UC workers earning much less than workers at California State University and many community colleges. The report is available at http://www.nedlc.org/Registration/highideals_registration.htm.

The University of California Student Association, the official system-wide association of campus student governments, passed a resolution this weekend supporting the demands of UC service workers and their right to go on strike.

“With the resolution, we are demonstrating that low-wage workers’ issues are a priority for students,” said Jennifer Lilla, President of UCSA. “If workers go on strike and it affects the quality of services that students have already paid for, we will hold the University responsible.”

To contact local AFSCME offices:

UC Berkeley, Faith Raider, 510-844-1160 x110
UC San Francisco, Betsy Twitchell, 415-566-6477 x5
UC Santa Cruz, Max Alper, 831-818-9732
UC Davis, Cody Potter, 916-717-5877
UC Los Angeles, Nicole Moore, 310-824-0019 x234
UC Irvine, Roxana Guevara, 714-634-1449
UC Riverside, Werner Marroquin, 951-781-8158
UC San Diego, Claude Piller, 619-296-0342
UC Santa Barbara, Vu Nguyen, 805-562-8334