1 post tagged “uc workers strike...”
Address to UC Regents 7.15.2008
My name is Nicole Janelle. I’m a member of Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice as well as the Episcopal Chaplain @ UCSB and priest of St. Michael’s University Church in Isla Vista.
This morning, to help orient your moral and ethical compasses, I wish to share with you a short story about a woman named Muriel Lester – a women who was a friend of Gandhi’s and an important champion of social justice in the Christian tradition.
At the turn of the century, Muriel--then a teenager raised in relative wealth and security--would frequently take train through London. On these train rides she routinely observed passengers push up their open windows as the train approached East London, in order to keep out the stench. Problem was, they couldn’t keep out the stench. And eventually, Muriel would learn that the stench that filled East London came from the soap factories – factories that manufactured the same sweet smelling soap she used on a daily basis.
What is sweetness for some is stench and bitterness for others.
The sweetness of a well-run university by committed, hard-working workers is sweetness for many. And it is bitterness for these workers.
This morning I implore you to search your conscience to do right by these workers, lest the stench of their misery further invade and weaken the fabric of our entire community.
Thank you.
Our neighbors are struggling financially, members of our congregations and neighbors in our communities, whose voices are rarely heard, whose paychecks are among the lowest in the area. Who are these neighbors? Healthcare workers and custodians who work for UCSB, the largest employer in Santa Barbara.
8,500 University of California workers began a strike at UC's ten campuses and five medical centers on Monday, July 14. These workers are the backbone of the UC system, doing the daily work of maintaining the university by cleaning rooms, serving food, driving shuttles, and much more. 97.5% of workers voted to authorize this strike; an overwhelming majority believe that it is time to show the UC executives how important this contract is.
Did you know?
+That custodians and healthcare workers at UCSB, members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), are paid less for the same work than other University of California campuses, the Community College and State University systems, and the City and County of Santa Barbara, despite the high cost of living on the South Coast?
+That decisions about their healthcare and pension coverage are often made without their negotiated input?
+That in order to support their families many of these workers commute long distances and work multiple jobs?
+That many of these employees have been working without a contract since 2007?
+That dignitaries such as former President Bill Clinton, retired General Wesley Clark and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., refused to speak at graduation ceremonies at UC campuses this year until a new contract is agreed upon, to show their support for the 20,000 AFSCME workers employed by the UC system?
+That the University has been working hard to improve the wages of their lower paid employees despite this difficult budget year? In 2007, the University provided special increases for employees earning less than $40,000 per year. Yet this is not enough.
(From Jennifer Bailey, Executive Director of Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice, Santa Barbara)
