From: \\\ (lmpallad@midway.uchicago.edu)
Date: Tue Aug 27 2002 - 19:27:41 EDT
SUPPORT the STRIKE!
Why are workers striking?
Clerical workers and campus lecturers are legally picketing the UC Berkeley
administration’s illegal negotiating practices. Graduate students and nurses at
the Tang Center are striking in sympathy.
What are the issues in the negotiations?
CUE, the clerical workers’ union, has been offered merely a 1% wage increase
for this year and 1.5% for the next. Because the UC is breaking the law,
clericals can’t get a decent contract. The result is that they are underpaid
and the turnover rate is high, further increasing their workloads. Many
clerical workers suffer from repetitive stress injuries. They deserve decent
wage increases.
LECTURERS, who have declared a strike for Wednesday, teach nearly half of all
undergraduate classes. AFT, the lecturers’ union, has been bargaining for a
fair contract for over 2 yrs, meaning they haven’t had a raise during that
time. Even after years of work at UC Berkeley and continually demonstrating
excellence in teaching, many are fired so that the university can hire someone
cheaper and with less experience.
WHY SHOULD STUDENTS SUPPORT THE STRIKE?
Campus workers make our education possible, so we must show our appreciation by
joining the workers on the picket line. There are two sides in this conflict:
the administration, many of whom are very wealthy; and the workers. The
workers, who often can barely make it, are the ones who make the campus run.
Which side are you on? The choice is clear. Join the workers on the picket
line.
ABOVE ALL, PLEASE DO NOT CROSS THE PICKET LINE - DON'T GO TO CLASSES ON CAMPUS
JOIN THE PICKET LINE, MONDAY THRU WEDNESDAY, 7:30am until 5:30pm (central
picket location - Center / Oxford)
STUDENTS RALLY WITH WORKERS
Tuesday, 8/27 at Bancroft and Telegraph, noon
Wednesday, 8/28, at California Hall, noon
________________________________________________
Contact the UC President Atkinson and UC Berkeley Chancellor Berdahl
Ask them to stop engaging in unfair labor practices against those who make the
university work, and ask them to start bargaining seriously!
UC President Richard Atkinson
1111 Franklin St., 12th Flr
Oakland, CA 94607-5200
Phone: 510-987-9074
FAX: 510-987-9086
richard.atkinson@ucop.edu
UC Berkeley - Chancellor Robert Berdahl
Office of the Chancellor
200 California Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-1500
FAX: 510-643-5499
chanclor@uclink4.berkeley.edu
____________________________________________________________________
Sample Letter:
Richard Atkinson, President
University of California
1111 Franklin Street
Oakland, CA 94607
Dear President Atkinson,
I write to you in my capacity as (title) of (organization). I understand that
the University is currently in its fifteenth month of contract negotiations
with the clerical union, CUE; and that the lectureres represented by UC AFT
have been teaching without a contract since 2000.
I urge you to show your appreciation for the hard work done by the clerical
staff and lecturers at the university by offering a fair wage increase -- for
these employees are among the lowest paid at UC. I am concerned that increases
in the cost of health care benefits, parking, rent, and utilities affect them
disproportionately. These employees deserve to earn a decent wage, one on which
they can support themselves and their families. In addition, it is hard for me
to understand that UC is not willing to guarantee safe working conditions for
all employees, and I hope you will change your position on this matter.
I encourage you to have your negotiators bargain with the clerical union and
the union representing lecturers in good faith. UC loses face in the community
when it commits illegal acts in negotiations with the duly-elected
representatives of the workers.
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
(your name, title, organization)
____________________________________________________________________
---------------------------------
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----- End forwarded message -----
lenore m. palladino
773 752-3576
lmpallad@midway.uchicago.edu
"your silence will not protect you.." -audre lorde
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Oct 28 2002 - 02:52:33 EST