The success of service workers in negotiating a contract with
the university, and the resurgence of labor activism on campus is
undoubtably one of the year’s highlights.
In recent years, labor activism among students and local unions
seemed only to exist in shadows and rhetoric. But this year, things
changed.
After months and months of dead-end contract negotiations, the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees held a
massive one-day strike at every undergraduate University of
California campus.
Student support for the workers, who on average make around
$17,000 a year, was extraordinary.
Prior to the strike, students stormed the dining halls with
leaflets and information about the workers and passed fliers out on
campus. And on the day of the strike many students walked out of
class and refused to cross picket lines to enter the dining halls,
instead choosing to eat somewhere else and join the workers’
rallies.
The success of AFSCME workers, who negotiated a contract soon
after their strike, was also compounded by the creation of a
campus-wide labor coalition among local unions.
Often times the plights of workers are ignored. It takes a
strong and dedicated campus to struggle with them, and workers,
union leaders and students should all be commended.