Lecturers at UCSC plan to strike

<www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2002/October/04/local/stories/17local.htm>

October 4, 2002
Sentinel staff report

Several hundred people gathered at McHenry Library Thursday at noon to rally support for a strike by lecturers at UC Santa Cruz.
Lecturers, who have been working without a contract for two years, plan to walk off the job at UCSC Oct. 14 and 15. Clerical workers say they have been treated unfairly, citing pay offers that don’t cover the cost of living.
Mike Rotkin, a longtime lecturer on campus and a candidate for Santa Cruz City Council, spoke at the rally as did Councilman Tim Fitzmaurice, another campus lecturer.
About 350 lecturers teach at UCSC. They teach classes but do not perform research.
“Despite our essential contribution to education, we UC lecturers have no job security or voice in the university,” Rotkin said.
He said he expected other unions to honor the picket lines.
The lecturers are affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, which has filed several charges of unfair labor practices against the UC Regents.
They have formed an alliance with the local Teamsters and the Service Employees International Union to fight what they say is abuse of temporary employment.
Contract negotiations for UC employees are handled systemwide rather than by individual campuses. UC officials counter that the union demands are unreasonable.
Campus employees are not the only ones planning protests.
Students are organizing a walkout for Monday to protest President Bush’s push for war in Iraq. At least 50 students plan to leave classes at noon and rally outside McHenry Library, Layla Razavi, a junior politics major said.