UC Service Workers Strike Appears Imminent
By Matthew Cardinale
Over 7,300 service workers are bracing for a strike against the
University of California, as negotiations between the AFSCME Local
3299 and University appear to be heading towards an impasse.
After union members on nine campuses voted 92% statewide to
authorize a strike on March 17, 2005, the Bargaining Committee and
UC are participating in a state-mandated Â"fact-finding process.Â"
This process, which is estimated to conclude in late March, is
followed by a ten-day renegotiation period.
Â"If we donÂ't settle within that ten days, the Union is free to
strike,Â"
says Paul Worthman, Statewide Negotiator for AFSCME Local 3299
(www.afscme3299.org). Worthman has been an organizer with various
unions for 30 years.
Â"And it doesnÂ't look good,Â" he adds, regarding the prospect of
reaching middle ground with the University who he says is not
showing willingness to Â"move.Â"
Meanwhile, two UC Irvine Medical Center workers claim to have been
wrongly harassed for wearing buttons and posting flyers supporting
the strike on March 10, 2005, according to an affidavit obtained by
the present columnist.
Â"We are planning to file charges,Â" UC Irvine campus organizer,
Roxanna Guevara, says, adding such harassment is illegal.
Â"In support of our AFSCME workers, several of us were proud to wear
the red pin in their support and post the flyers. Our supervisor
became aware and made a statement that until she found out what the
"rules" were, that we would not be able to post the flyers and keep
them in sight,Â" wrote Janette Carbone, a PhysicianÂ's Assistant, in
an affidavit.
Â"Dannie Garber and I immediately stated that it was our right to
support those workersÂ"Â" Janette continued. Â"Our office employees
continued to wear the pin in support and have not heard any issues
since, but the flyer is not posted in our office,Â" she said.
Guevara also claims that workers have been told by their UC managers
that Â"They donÂ't have to go to the picket line,Â" which she claims is
an effort to mislead workers.
Major contract issues being debated include: guaranteed wage
increases, possibilities for advancement, not firing workers for
being absent due to sickness, the use of uniforms made in overseas
sweatshops, and over 30 other issues, Worthman explained in a
telephone interview.
The biggest issue is the debate over whether there should be
guaranteed wage increases. Â"The University wants any raises to be
conditional upon the Governor and the Legislature having money
specifically allocated to the University for salary staff
increases,Â" said Worthman.
Worthman says, however, that the UniversityÂ's position is bunk,
claiming the University gets money from a number of other sources
including auxiliary enterprises, student fees, and overhead received
in research grants.
The University also always appears to be able to find the money for
new buildings and salary bonuses, he adds.
Â"However, less than one-fourth of the workersÂ' current salaries come
from state money [on average],Â" he says. Â"Auxiliary operations like
the Medical Center, Parking, Dining Halls, Transportation, none of
these get state funding and they rely on their own revenues."
Â"One thing that particularly perturbs our Bargaining Committee is
that almost every other union and non-union groupÂ""the TAÂ's [teaching
assistants], the faculty, the police, the nurses, the research and
technical staffÂ""have all gotten raises out of University funding,Â"
said Worthman. Â"The University is not consistent in the people they
refuse to guarantee raises to. ItÂ's mostly the low-paid service
workers, which are mostly people of color.Â"
Â"I think theyÂ've been singled out because the University, high
officials have said publicly, they simply donÂ't believe the work
these people do is important. The people who clean the toilets and
serve the food are not a priority,Â" Worthman explained.
Â"The University doesnÂ't offer it because they havenÂ't been made to
feel they have to,Â" Worthman says, adding, Â"ItÂ's difficult [for
these workers] to take the time to rally and demonstrate, and itÂ's
very scary. I have a tremendous amount of respect for people who are
scared of retribution.
Standing up to people who write your evaluations is a real act of
courage.Â"
Another major issue, Worthman says, is a Â"chance to advance.Â"
Â"Trying to see an opportunity to have a career in the University,
not imply dead-end jobs. If there are vacancies in management, we
want that the jobs would go to qualified internal candidates instead
of going outside and the University just wonÂ't do it.Â"
UC service workers make significantly less than workers in
comparable jobs at other state institutions, including 15% less than
those at Cal State Universities, and 26% less than those at
Community Colleges, according to a February 2005 report by National
Economic Development and Law Center (www.nedlc.org). The report is
available for viewing without registration at the AFSCME website:
http://www.afscme3299.org/reportonucworkerpoverty1/
Francisco Arellano, 47, a worker in the Housekeeping Department,
said, Â"They always say, well itÂ's the market. We donÂ't care about
the market.
IÂ've been working at UCI for 22 years.Â" Arellano is a member of the
AFSCME service workers union and was President of the UC Irvine
local [when campuses had their own locals] from 1990-1999.
Â"In 1983 when I started, I was making $5.38. As President of the UCI
Local, I bargained five times with the University. From 1983 until
now, the people have had only four raises, thatÂ's it, in 22 years,Â"
Arellano says.
Â"Most of my coworkers have two jobs to make it because they canÂ't
make it with one job. They start at 5 am and work until 2 pm and
then go to a second job,Â" Arellano added.
Arellano describes the plight of his friend, another worker, who he
says makes $12.96 an hour after working at UCI for 36 years. Of his
friend, Arellano says, Â"ItÂ's not fair. He should make $18 to $20 an
hour, because he already spent his life there.Â"
Â"The vote was a really good decision,Â" Arellano continued.
Â"Everybody thinks itÂ's not fair the real low money weÂ're making. We
really need some changes, you know. Santa Ana School District starts
at $15.00 an hour, for the same jobs. I have four kids; two in
college and two in high school. How can I pay tuition, rent, food,
health care, and everything with that kind of money? ThereÂ's no
way!Â"
UC service workersÂ' wages are not sufficient to cover the bare
minimum costs of raising a family, according to the NEDLC report.
This finding is based on a Â"Self-sufficiency standardÂ" based on $182
per month on food, for instance. So when the authors refer to
Â"bare-bones costs,Â" they really mean what they say.
In Orange County, California, for instance, the NEDLC estimates
$42,902 is needed per year for a single adult and preschooler to
afford the cost of living, whereas a UC Irvine food service worker
makes $14,693/year on average.
Â"UC food service workers earn wages low enough to qualify for up to
nine major publicly-funded welfare benefit programs, depending on
the workerÂ's county, family size, and age of children,Â" the report
continues. Â"A food service worker who is a single parent with one
preschool-age child earns low enough to meet income eligibility
requirements for the following benefitsÂ"Â" it says, referring to Medi-Cal,
housing subsidies, free or reduced lunch for school-age children,
low-income telephone subsidy, and low-income home energy assistance.
Single parent food service workers at UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and
UCLA, qualify for food stamps as well, the report says.
Union officials say the provision of these public benefits to
underpaid state employees ends up costing the state money anyway.
Â"The University, they always try to divide the union. Last year,
they offered to the people, a 1.5% raise just to the hospital
employees, not to the campus employees,Â" said Arellano.
Â"And they say, we have money, but only for hospital people. We
decided not to accept it. You have to give the money to everybody.
We know they do that because they want to make us fight each other,Â"
Arellano continued.
Elaine Cover, an AFSCME worker in patient careÂ""whose unit within the
union recently had a contract struggle with UC only one year
agoÂ""came to a recent rally in Irvine, California, to support her
fellow workers in the service unit.
Â"IÂ've worked at UCI just shy of 5 years,Â" Cover said. Â"I make just
under $14. IÂ'm here supporting the service members of my union
because theyÂ're as deserving of the contract we got last year, if
not better.Â"
Â"Right now there are so many indifferences going on over there at
UCI with CEO bonuses,Â" Cover said. Â"And there are people in the
service unitÂ""people whoÂ've started four years after I didÂ""making
more than me.
They wonÂ't give us raises but theyÂ'll bring new people in at higher
wages.Â"
UC gave its top medical executives over $2.4 million in bonuses in
October 2004, according to a press statement by AFSCME.
Â"The employees are showing a lot of dedication to the company, but
the company is not giving us a lot of dedication in return,Â" Cover
added.
Â"Look at all the benefits we have because weÂ're fighting as a
union,Â" said Arellano. Â"Union people and UCI have been fighting
every year and everything we have is because of fighting,Â" he
continued.
Matthew Cardinale is a freelance writer, advocate, and graduate
student at UC Irvine in sociology and democracy studies. He may be
reached at mcardina@uci.edu
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