Greetings,
Graduate Employees at the University of California system are striking
this week in order to be recognized. They need support from across the
country and they would appreciate messages of solidarity.
If you have a minute to spare please send a message of support to the
address:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
You can also send messages to the UC president expressing your
disapproval with the way that the UC system has handled this matter and
urging UC to recognize the Graduate Employees immediately (see below).
In 1994, a majority of grad's voted for the union; the administration
challenged their right to organize, but California labor courts ruled in
the grads' favor earlier this year. Nonetheless, the administration still
refuses to recognize the union. Grads at 3 campuses have voted to
strike, and at 2 others, they've voted to engage in civil disobedience.
More information is contained in the forwarded messages below.
Solidarity,
_____________________________________________________________
| Dennis Grammenos [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
| Departments of Geography & |
| Russian and East European Studies |
| University of Illinois Phone: (217) 333-1880 |
| Urbana, IL 61801 Fax: (217) 244-1785 |
|_____________________________________________________________|
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 09:06:47 -0800
From: William Kramer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: SAGE Strike at UCLA: Nov 18-22
I am forwarding a call for support of the upcoming strike by academic
student employees at UCLA who are members of SAGE/ UAW
To: Friends of SAGE/UAW in the labor movement
From: Susan Conrad, John Medearis
Re: Our upcoming strike and SAGE/UAW support letters
As you may already know, the SAGE/UAW executive board has now set the dates
for our upcoming five-day strike for November 18 to November 22. We would
appreciate any support you can lend us before and during our strike. Of
course, we understand that many unionized UCLA employees are limited by
their contracts from taking sympathy actions.
1) One powerful way you could help us is by communicating your support of
our campaign to Chancellor Young. Attached please find the suggested text
of a letter we hope you will edit to your satisfaction and send on your
letterhead to Chancellor Young in support of SAGE/UAW's campaign for
recognition. Please do feel free to edit the letter to suit your needs. It
would be very helpful if you could send your letter to Chancellor Young as
soon as possible. We would appreciate your faxing us a copy of your letter
when you send it. The SAGE/UAW fax number is (310) 824-0439.
2) During the strike week, our picket lines will be up by 7 a.m. each
morning. It would be great to have some of your members or staff join us on
the picket lines for half an hour or an hour on their way in to work or
during their lunch breaks. We would appreciate the loan of bullhorns or
other amplification equipment for use on the picket lines during the strike
week.
3) On Wednesday, November 20, we will be having a Labor and Community
Solidarity day. This would be a particularly good day to have members join
us on the picket line. The main focus of the day will be a rally, to begin
at 3:30 at Murphy Hall on the UCLA campus. We would appreciate having your
members and staff join us for the rally.
Please contact John Medearis or Mike Miller with any questions about
coordinating your support with our strike plans. Either can be reached at
SAGE/UAW's office, but you can also reach John at (310) 572-7971 or Mike at
(310) 396-4624. Thank you very much for your help!
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Chancellor Charles Young
2147 Murphy Hall
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095
(310) 825-2151
Dear Chancellor Young:
I am writing you to express strong support for the Student Association of
Graduate Employees (SAGE/UAW) and its campaign for recognition.
SAGE/UAW's members--teaching assistants, research assistants, readers and
tutors--provide essential services to the university, and deserve the same
rights all workers should enjoy in a democratic society. They have deserved
recognition ever since their card drive in 1994. Recent events only
underscore the justice of their position.
As you know, a Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) judge ruled in
September that teaching assistants, readers and tutors--but not research
assistants--are employees of the university and have collective bargaining
rights under state law. Following this decision, SAGE/UAW took a very
reasonable position. The union decided, despite its disagreement with the
part of the ruling concerning research assistants, to accept it as a valid
interpretation of the current law. SAGE/UAW then called on you to implement
the decision by granting recognition for teaching assistants, readers, and
tutors.
We urge you to accept this offer and stop using the legal system to deny
workers their democratic rights. Fighting SAGE/UAW and its sister-unions
has already cost millions in public funds. It has not been money well
spent. A majority of your own academic student employees want to begin
collective bargaining. A PERB judge supports collective bargaining for
these workers. Universities across the country--from Rutgers to the
University of Michigan, to the University of Oregon--now engage in
collective bargaining with their academic student employees.
If you refuse to grant recognition, you will inflict a painful strike on the
UCLA campus. And while we recognize that such a job action will disrupt the
educational routine in the short run, we fully support these academic
student employees' decision to strike for one week this fall to gain
recognition. Not only is a one-week strike fully warranted, in view of your
continued refusal to grant recognition, it also shows respect for the
invaluable services that SAGE/UAW's members provide to the university
community. My union would also stand firmly behind SAGE/UAW if the union
were forced to strike for a longer period of time at some later date.
[Suggested language, for campus locals only:] A strike will place a special
burden on the members of [union/local]. Many of our members have, as
individuals, deep moral objections to crossing a picket line. [Alternative
1, for locals not bound by no-strike clauses:] I expect that many will
refuse to cross SAGE/UAW's lines. [Alternative 2, for other locals:] I
trust that there will be no reprisals against those who choose to follow the
dictates of their consciences and not cross.
Chancellor Young, we urge you to accept SAGE/UAW's offer, and grant
recognition for teaching assistants, readers and tutors.
Sincerely yours, etc.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
X William Kramer
X UCLA LAMAP Coordinator
X 1001 Gayley--2nd Floor
X Los Angeles, CA 90024
X 310-794-0698
X 310-794-8017 fax
X [EMAIL PROTECTED]
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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