The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
held a forum Wednesday afternoon to investigate management abuse at
UCLA.
Union members voiced their complaints in front of a panel that
included former state assembly speaker and city council hopeful
Antonio Villaraigosa and state Senate Labor Committee Chair Richard
Alarcon.
Grant Lindsay, one of the event organizers, said worker
complaints range from inappropriate harassment to wrongful
termination of contracts.
Seven union members from various labor and service departments
of the university spoke out about their working conditions during
the forum.
They said they felt threatened for wanting to use sick days and
were afraid to speak their non-English native languages in the
presence of management.
AFSCME President Lakesha Harrison said management often
threatens and disrespects workers, making them feel “less
than human.”
“We are here today to ask this to stop,” she
said.
Harrison said the workers are not looking for monetary solutions
““ the issue is one of respect.
Alarcon expressed support for the workers, saying supervisors
are there “not to step on people but to raise them
up.”
“It is absolutely what we should root out of our
society,” Alarcon said, regarding the management’s
alleged behavior.
Villaraigosa also supported the workers, saying he would make
his stance on the issue known to the chancellor and Regents of the
University of California.
“The idea that you can’t use a sick day just sounds
like something out of the stone ages,” Villaraigosa said.
“I closed my eyes for a second … it’s hard to believe
that these kinds of things are happening in a public
university.”
Under the current system, workers file grievances in response to
perceived contract violations. Harrison said 95 percent of
grievances are denied.
The next step in the process, she said, is for the panel to send
recommendations to the university. The union’s ultimate goal
is for UCLA to negotiate with AFSCME about workers’ recurring
problems.
In August last year, AFSCME members gathered in a similar
fashion to protest working conditions at the Medical Center. The
complaints then revolved around staffing shortages and an
overly-demanding work environment.
AFSCME and UCLA met with Medical Center representatives within
the next month to discuss the issues. As a result, the two groups
ultimately reached a compromise that streamlined workers’
duties.
UCLA Professor Albert Boine said he was appalled by the stories
of managerial misconduct. He said public institutions like UCLA are
rooted in democracy, and the abuse of workers is contrary to this
idea.
“I’m particularly disturbed that (UCLA)
doesn’t practice what it preaches,” he said.