(8,500) University of California Service Workers Strike to End Poverty Wages

Source: AFL-CIO News Blog

by James Parks

Some 8,500 employees of the University of California went on strike today to demand better pay and a fair contract. The workers, members of AFSCME Local 3299, include housekeepers, cafeteria workers and those who disinfect hospital equipment. The five-day strike is set to run through Friday at the university’s 10 campuses and five medical centers.

Says Mario Pinto, a senior custodian at the UC-Santa Clara campus:

We are living with our whole family together, our kids and grandkids, packed in one house, but we still can’t get by because everything is so expensive….It is a very critical situation for us. We can’t live in peace. We always have to be thinking about how are we going to make it next month and put food on the table for the kids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ebE0HOTzpM

Last month, workers at UC campuses and supporters across the country rallied for a fair contract for the university workers. For nearly a year, workers have been trying to negotiate a deal that would pay a decent wage.


Read more: http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/07/14/university-of-california-service-workers-strike-to-end-poverty-wages/

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I see Santa Clara is a Jesuit school. My experience is that Jesuit schools tend to be very pro worker.

There's University of Santa Clara, which is a private Catholic school, so their workers would not be on the same contract as workers for the UC system. Great school, BEAUTIFUL campus- when I was in high school I'd have given somebody else's right arm to go there for college, but totally not in the budget.

I'm guessing they mean UC Santa Cruz.