> From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed May 21 15:23 PDT 1997 > X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 18:18:23 -0400 > Sender: Forum on Labor in the Global Economy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > From: Sam Lanfranco <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Univ of Calif @ Santa Cruz Strike > > This is a message from the University of California At Santa Cruz, where a > strike of technical employees is underway at the moment. My own > university, having just gone through a 51-day faculty strike, is rich with > similar stories. - Sam Lanfranco LABOR-L ListManagement > > ----------Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 13:45:35 -0800 > From: Ina Clausen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: to share with list > > Our UPTE-CWA Santa Cruz president received this letter. > > wanted to share a letter I received from a UCSC UPTE member, Lance Bresee, > who works for Lick Observatory at UCSC. This letter, to me, expresses what > we should be trying to achieve both individually and collectively. It would > be difficult for me to put into words how I felt when I received this > letter, but "grateful" comes immediately to mind. I also feel proud to be > part of the organization he describes. We make mistakes, but UPTE is a > fine organization and it is made up of many, many fine people. > > Lindey Cloud > President > UPTE-Santa Cruz > > **************************************************************************** > > This morning, when I arrived at work, a coworker told me about driving by > the UPTE members holding the banner at the base of campus, and giving them > the "thumbs down" sign. He seemed proud of this childish gesture. "They > looked at me like they couldn't understand why I would do that." > He said. "Why DID you do that?" I asked, not understanding. > > I heard that he resented the union for costing him pay raises. This logic, > which leads one to conclude that UPTE is responsible for the actions of > the University which a posted notice shows to have been illegal, according > to a PERB ruling, seems to me to be the equivalent of suggesting that > wealthy people, by owning valuable possessions, are responsible for > burglars. > > The reality, which seems clear today after becoming involved myself and > witnessing things which my coworker fearfully avoids looking at, is that > the University is trying to punish the tech unit for becoming unionized, > and they do not care what it costs. The small amount requested for > retroactive pay increases, which one UC Chancellor described as mere > "noise in the system" in the UC budget, has already been exceeded by the > costs of 27 months of bargaining and the moneys held up by the > California State Legislature. > > Recently, while riding back from the UAW picket line with a fellow union > member after a meeting to discuss the current action, my new friend > commented that he had "never expected to get in this deep." We were > both candidates to meet with the Chancellor on that Friday. I never even > thought I would JOIN this union, much less volunteer to represent it in a > face-to-face meeting with the chancellor. > > I did not vote for the union back in 1994. I had no desire to be > represented by a union. When the union won the election, I had no desire > to join. I first started paying dues to the union when the university > illegally withheld the 2.2% raises. I could see that this was a clear > violation of contract law, and knew that UC could not possibly believe this > action legitimate. Therefore, UC was willing to violate the law to punish > the union. This action frightened me; I realized that my employer was > capable of illegal actions in retribution to employees. I knew that we > would have to sue to get the money, and that lawyers did not work for > free, so I began paying union dues. > > I began to become active in the union when I saw my coworkers sitting and > waiting to see if "the union" would get a good contract without support. I > watched as UC negotiators delayed and argued against giving techs the > same raises they gave every one else, occasionally showing up at the last > minute with an excuse rather than a proposal, until they could claim that > retroactive pay could not be provided as it was "already spent." > > In this time I married. My new wife had a child, and another was on the > way. We were living in my one-bedroom apartment, and I knew I needed > better shelter for my family. You can read my story in the current City > on a Hill, but it became clear that, if UC negotiators were successful in > breaking this union, it would mean no raise and a possible pay cut. This > would spell disaster for my family. No longer could I passively sit back > and let these few people do the dirty work of providing for my family by > fighting this new threat. > > As I participated in union meetings, I saw that the nature of the union > changed; I saw the impact of my involvement in the meetings. Even > though I abstained from every vote, choosing instead to serve in whatever > way I could without demanding the right to direct, I could see how my > presence shaped the union. > > I realized that "the union" was not some dubious entity which handed > down edicts from afar, but an organization; a community which would > become what its members made it. I saw that there was work to be done > to win a decent contract, and that, if I was not willing to do it, it would > not be done. I saw that it was time to take personal responsibility for my > working conditions and the support of my family. No longer could I sit > back and complain and wait for "the union" to do its job; "the union" was > me, and the job was mine. > > Regardless of our ability to win a contract, I will always be grateful to > UPTE for shocking my out of my complacency and awakening me to > become an active participant in my own welfare and to a more mature > participation in my community. Many of the problems we face throughout > the US seem the result of a community of passivity where individuals are > content to sit and complain that "the Government" or some other > faceless agency is not doing the job of caring for them as they deem > proper. The people who make a difference in this world are those who see > something which needs to be done, and stop and do it. Now, I count > myself among their number. I was once one of those who sit back and let > others work for my welfare. May God keep me where I am today; a man > who is present for his family and community. > > In a strange way, I am also grateful to the UC negotiators. Had they > negotiated fairly and offered the very same contract we had prior to > electing the union, had they not delayed and lied, there would have been a > quick resolution, and I would never have become involved. I would still be > complacent,letting others take care of the details which effected my life. > I cannot describe how it feels to find myself an active and supportive > member of my community. I could no more have understood it before I took > action than a drunk could understand sobriety. > > I will be there Friday, though this strike was not my idea, to support you > and to work for our collective welfare. >
