As contract negotiations between the University of California
and the Coalition of University Employees were halted for a lunch
break on Thursday, students and workers used the opportunity to
come together.
A rally was held in front of Kerckhoff Hall to draw attention to
the Fact Finder’s Report released by CUE last week and the
contract dispute between the UC and CUE.
CUE represents 16,000 clerical staff members at nine of the
UC’s campuses, most of whom are administrative assistants,
clerks and library assistants.
UCLA clerical staff members work on campus, in the medical
center and in off-campus extension locations.
The report states that UC administrators diverted $20 million
originally budgeted for clerical salaries to other sources.
“We decided to do this to draw attention to the UC’s
unwillingness to come to a fair agreement on wage increases,
parking rates, the protection of benefits including pensions, and
workplace justice,” said Hueteotl Lopez, a CUE organizer
field representative.
Anatullah Alaji-Sabrie, a legal assistant at UC Berkeley and
CUE’s chief negotiator, spoke to the crowd of workers and
supporters outside of Kerckhoff.
“The UC is going to underpay you as a dedicated worker. We
need to shame them for their dirty, dirty tricks and lies,”
she said.
“We stand in solidarity with every clerical worker and
student on this campus. An injury to one is an injury to
all.”
The UC has said that there are currently not sufficient funds
for salary increases.
Students at the rally stood by the workers to voice their
concerns as well.
“I used to be proud that I was a student here, after
talking to clerical workers, I realized UCLA was not that
great,” said Christina Lopez, a UCLA graduate who studied
women’s studies and Chicana and Chicano studies.
“Workers come to work expecting respect, but they are not
getting that,” she said.
Other unions agreed to support CUE in their negotiations as a
result of their own past experiences with the UC.
“We are not going to stand for unfair labor practices. We
are all too familiar with UC’s bargaining,” said Jamie
Keeton, a member of the United Automobile Workers Union, which
represents teaching assistants and readers at UCLA.
CUE members also expressed discontent with the UC because of the
discrepancy between their wages and those of workers who hold the
same positions at other schools.
According to the report, UC clerical workers are making
significantly less than clerical workers at junior colleges and in
the California State University system.
“What we are asking for is wage increases that are fair,
just, and equitable,” Lopez said. “We are basically
asking for a living wage. Workers are not making enough money to
pay all their bills and have a type of existence where they are
living from check to check.”
A UC press release written in response to CUE’s
fact-finding report states that during California’s fiscal
crisis, the UC’s state funding has been cut and no funds were
appropriated for salary increases in 2003-04.
UC does recognize that “faculty and staff salaries have
fallen behind market” and are looking toward the UC’s
new compact, or agreement, with the governor to provide
opportunities for increased funding for salaries.
It is unclear what CUE’s next step may be if bargaining
between CUE and the UC does not end soon, but they say they are
ready for any situation that may come.
“In a contract dispute there is a big possibility of a
strike. It depends on the workers, the workers have to vote. We
will put it before them and they make the decision,” Lopez
said.