The Militant - July 28, 2008 -- U. of California workers strike over pay increase

Vol. 72/No. 30 July 28, 2008

U. of California workers
strike over pay increase

BY BARBARA BOWMAN
OAKLAND, California—University of California (UC) workers represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union (AFSCME) Local 3299, picketed and rallied here July 18. More than 1,000 workers and their supporters were part of the action called in conjunction with a five-day strike that began July 14. With high morale and confidence they chanted, “Si Se Puede!”(Yes we can).

The service workers have been bargaining with the university since September 2007 without reaching an agreement. The strikers are demanding that the UC system pay $15 an hour to all campus workers by the end of a five-year contract. The UC administration offered in May to raise pay to $11.50 or $12 an hour. Workers rejected that. The administration’s current offer is $14.50 for most workers, but only $13.50 for workers at the Irvine campus. The workers, students, and their supporters at the protest came from UC Berkeley and a number of other campuses in the system. Other trade unionists and some students joined the action.

The rally was chaired by Lakesha Harrison, a nurse at UCLA in Los Angeles, and president of AFSCME Local 3299.

Among those who spoke at the action was Gerardo Sánchez, Socialist Workers candidate for U.S. Congress in the 8th District, just south of San Francisco. Sánchez said the workers’ fight is a part of the resistance to the growing economic crisis of the world capitalist system. When elected to office he said he will put forward immediate legislation for cost-of-living increases in all wages and benefits to protect workers’ standard of living. “If food prices go up, your wages must increase too,” he explained.

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