UW Student/Worker Coalition

Picket Against Custodian Abuse and Speak Out Against Cuts to Education

2010-10-05T00:55:00.000-07:00

Rank and File UW workers, International Workers and Students for Justice (IWSJ), and friends say...

Picket Manager Yang Sook Choe and the Policies of Custodial Services
Join rank and file custodians as they stand up against the latest attacks by management.

Thursday, Oct. 7th, 2010
1:15pm, UW Seattle Campus, Red Square

For More Info, email IWSJ.Seattle@gmail.com
http://iwsjseattle.blogspot.com/2010/10/no-unpaid-overtime-no-discrimination.htm

Following this picket, as part of the
National Day to Defend Education, the Student Worker Coalition is holding a...
Speak Out/Open-Mic Against the Elite’s Responses to the
Economic Crisis

Thursday, Oct. 7th, 2010
3:30pm, UW Seattle Campus
Red Square in front of Gerberding Hall
uwstudentworkercoalition@gmail.com
nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com

This will be followed by an organizing meeting with the UW Student Worker Coalition.

Background to Custodian Picket:

1) NO Unpaid Overtime
Custodial Manager, Yang Sook Choe, has recently started requiring that custodians in her area stay at their work stations longer, causing them to not be able to clock out until after their shift is over. This has resulted in forced, unpaid overtime.

2) NO Discrimination
Arriving at work between 4:30 and 5am, many custodians have long used coffee makers and microwaves to make coffee and heat up food during breaks. All of sudden, manager Choe has mandated that the custodians end their use of these of appliances. This is clearly a case of discrimination against the lowest paid, primarily immigrant custodial workforce because other staff and faculty at UW have free access to these appliances.

3) NO Team Cleaning and Retaliation
After custodians in her area spoke out about the overtime and denial of appliance usage, manager Choe retaliated by instituting Team Cleaning, the much-despised form of speed-up that results in injury and exhaustion.

OCT. 7th - National Day of Action to Defend Education - Speak Out!

2010-10-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

Oct. 7th, 2010 is the National Day of Action to Defend Education!

Join us for Speak Out/Open-Mic

Speak Out Against the Elite's Responses to the "Economic Crisis"

3:30PM Thursday October 7th, 2010
In front of Gerberding Hall in Red Square at UW Seattle Campus

Followed by an Organizational Meeting of the UW Student/Worker Coalition

uwstudentworkercoalition@gmail.com

WE REJECT THE RHETORIC OF THE "ECONOMIC CRISIS" THAT CLAIMS CUTS TO EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SPENDING IN GENERAL ARE A NECESSARY PART OF OUR REALITY. HERE’S WHY:

The UW Student/Worker Coalition has organized in response to the drastic budget cuts at UW and the accompanying increased hardships that they bring to on-campus workers and students. We had two walkouts last spring, one of which was the largest demonstration on campus in years.

The problem of budget cuts at UW is part of a much larger problem that is shared by the majority of the world – folks who are denied access to a "quality" education and then are told that their only option is to submit themselves to the will of those with capital by working as so-called "unskilled" labor. As it stands there exists only a very small fraction of jobs that guarantee that workers have enough to support themselves and those that they are responsible for supporting.

As working class youth, we have been told we need to pursue higher education to progress to a position where we can demand more pay for our "higher-skilled" labor and thus better provide for ourselves and our families.

Because of decades of struggles, poor folks, people of color, LGBT folks, and folks with disabilities have won marginal access to higher education.

Now the legislators and Regents are using the "economic crisis", which was created by the wealthy who exploit our communities, as an excuse to take away even this marginal access, turning UW into an even more elitist institution while also cutting off access to other "public" universities, "community" colleges and even public primary and secondary schools.

WE WANT A WORLD IN WHICH EDUCATION SERVES THE MUTUAL BENEFIT OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE. WE DENOUNCE THE ELITIST MODEL OF EDUCATION AS IT EXISTS TODAY WHICH IS ONLY SERVING TO CONTINUALLY RECREATE THE CLASS, RACE, AND GENDER OPPRESION.

WE NEED A MOVEMENT COMPOSED OF EVERYONE WHO SEEKS A MORE JUST WORLD AND WHO ALSO BELIEVE EDUCATION OUGHT TO SERVE TO CREATE THAT WORLD, NOT PREVENT IT FROM EXISTING

Custodian Demand Letter concerning Manager Yang Sook Choe's Policies

2010-10-05T00:37:00.000-07:00

Demand letter concerning Yang Sook Choe's policies

Dear Gene Woodard, Charles Kennedy, Sattia Sear, Scott Spencer, and Human Resources,

We are writing this letter on behalf of custodians who have a concern with problems going on in our department. The main problem in the area we work is one of the mangers Yang Sook has been changing some of the rules unfairly.

For about 18 years we have had 15 minutes to go from our work site to where we clock out. We start 15 minutes before 5 AM. When we're trying to go home we are supposed to leave our buildings early enough to get to the clock station by 1:15 to punch out then. Now Yang Sook wants everyone in her two areas to stay in the buildings where we work until 1:20. There is a distance of up to 20 minutes of a walk to get to the clock station. The clock station is in South Campus. Some people work in upper campus, some work in Health Sciences. It takes a long time to get to the clock station. So Yang Sook is basically expecting us to work between 5 and 25 minutes overtime each day. We raised this with her and asked if we would be paid overtime for it. Yang Sook said we will not be paid overtime and she said we should just walk fast to make it to the clock station in time to punch out. We told her some people walk slower and won't get there in time. Yang Sook said those are excuses, and people should be able to get there on time. But some people have disabilities or injuries related to the overwork we regularly experience and that can make it difficult for us to jog to go clock out.

When the university changed people to dayshift they set up carpools because the parking situation is difficult during the day. With Yang Sook's changes though, everyone in a carpool will be ready to leave at a different time depending on how far we have to walk to clock out. Some people (who aren’t in Yang Sook’s 2 areas) will get out at 1:15 and people in Yang Sook’s areas will get out between 1:30 and 1:40. It will create a hostile environment for people and will cause fights because some people will be angry at others for having to wait for them, especially if they have to travel long distances to get home. We suspect managers are trying to divide and conquer us by creating this kind of hostile environment. Many of us have already given up our shift differential and our ability to drive our own cars because we were day-shifted and now we need to deal with this. This is not fair.

The second change is Yang Sook put up a set of rules saying we can't use any electricity for personal reasons. Those are rules from 15-18 years ago but we have had 3 contracts where rules have changed. She said no one can make coffee in the closets and no one can heat food. We have no way to heat our food or make coffee or tea. We need to go to the cafeteria to buy these things and it's too expensive. When we start work at 4:45 AM coffee is important. Why do professors and students get to heat up their own food and drink but we don't? Yang Sook has not been flexible and lots of us are getting mad. This is discrimination against employees of the university. Why do you treat us this way when we have been serving the university so well? If you didn't have us working as custodians you wouldn't have a functioning university so it is unfair for you treat us this way.

We are letting you know about this in the hope that you will make Yang Sook remove these new rules. It is a serious matter and we expect you to change the situation. We are trying to deal with this inside the University by speaking with you first. However, if you do not do something about it in one week, we will have no choice but to share this information with the public and we will let the public know how UW is discriminating against its employees, especially its lowest paid employees who are mostly immigrants and people of color.

Sincerely,

International Workers and Students for Justice and our friends

Sept 28th, 2010

Custodians Continue Fight to Save Swingshift

2010-06-16T23:49:00.000-07:00

Below is some media coverage of a rally last week that custodians held to fight the forced move from swingshift to dayshift.

http://www.realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/4351/

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kplu/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1662577/KPLU.Local.News/UW.Janitors.Rally.to.Save.Swing.Shift

Next Meeting - Thurs, July 29th, 6pm, Smith Hall 405

2010-06-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

We're going to be taking a break for part of the summer. We will have a mid-summer check in meeting on Thursday, July 29th at 6pm in Smith Hall room 405. The next meeting after that will be a strategizing/planning session before school starts back up in the fall. That meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 9th, at 6pm in Smith Hall 405.

Next Meeting - Thurs, 5/13 - 6pm, Smith Hall 405

2010-05-09T02:11:00.000-07:00

FYI: Location change for UWSWC meeting. The weekly meetings will now be on Thursdays at 6pm in Smith Hall room 405... until further notice.

General Assembly - Tues 5/4 - 5:30 - Suzzallo Cafe

2010-05-03T23:22:00.000-07:00

Following the campus strike on May 3rd, For a Democratic University and the UW Student Worker Coalition are calling a general assembly that is open to all who would like to get involved in organizing the continuing fight against the privatization of our school. Police are not welcome (plainclothes or in uniform). The general assembly is Tuesday, May 4th at 5:30 in Suzzallo Cafe.

Open Letter to Workers

2010-04-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, April 20th, Lou Pisano, the head of the UW bargaining team, wrote an e-mail to "leaders"--ie management, department chairs, deans, etc, encouraging them to terminate workers who take un-approved vacation time, and in other ways encouraging retaliation against workers who may strike May 3rd. The letter contained mis-information, and UW SWC responded. See the letter below. After the jump, you can see his e-mail as well.

------
April 28th 2010
To all Workers and Students of the University of Washington,

On May 3rd, after over a year of struggles against privatization, students, workers and concerned members of the community will be striking against the budget cuts, tuition increases, and attacks to the standard of living of workers at the university. This action is organized by the Student Worker Coalition, a diverse group of undergrads and graduate students, teachers and research assistants, custodians, skilled trades workers and professional staff, alumni and members of the community that have united to act in solidarity for affordable, quality education and workers rights on campus. The May 3rd Campus Strike is a struggle not only for student demands but also for worker demands such as no layoffs, no extra work, no cuts to the custodian swingshift, no outsourcing/union busting, and no management harassment/ retaliation.

We know workers face many challenges which make it difficult to participate in this movement. For example, the UW Police Department recently attempted to spy on our strike committee meeting by sending an undercover cop posing as a union supporter. We exposed her and in the media controversy that followed, UW spokesman Norm Arkans claimed that the UW administration is against the police spying on student groups. However, he mentioned nothing about workers. The Strike Committee is also a worker organization and the UWPD’s actions are a violation of workers’ right to organize. It is only the most recent example of a pattern of UWPD harassment of workers including surveillance during custodian break time organizing meetings and at clock stations as well as the arrest of two women of color journalists who were interviewing custodians about poor working conditions in Health Sciences. Despite this harassment, the movement against the privatization of the university--both as a place to work, and a place to learn-- has built serious momentum.

On April 21, 2010, Lou Pisano, Assistant Vice President of Labor Relations at UW, wrote an email addressed to "leaders" (that is, managers), stating that "employees who decide to participate [in the Campus Strike] by taking an unapproved, unscheduled absence from work may be subject to discipline...up to and including the termination of employment from the University."

Pisano's email is both misleading and desperate. Contrary to his claim, there is no clear provision in state law forbidding public workers to strike----nor is there a provision expressly allowing it. Washington State law is ambiguous with regard to whether public employees have a legal right to strike. Public employees DO often strike ---and succeed. Teachers and Metro drivers have gone on strike, and WFSE, SEIU, and academic student employees on campus all went on strike in 2001.

Further, contrary to Pisano’s claims, any individual employee who joins the strike on May 3 doesn't violate the no-strike clause in the union contracts, since this clause refers to the unions themselves calling a strike. It is also important to recognize that the State of Washington has repeatedly violated state workers’ contracts by denying cost of living increases and threatening furloughs and health care cuts. Why do workers have to follow the contract but management doesn’t?

Pisano’s letter shows that UW administrators are scared of the powerful student-worker solidarity that has been built the past year. UW administrators know its potential to unite similarly affected sectors of campus against privatization, and Pisano’s letter is an example of how they are trying to break up these coalitions.

On May 3, the UW campus will be striking together. Students will be setting up picket lines at the main campus entrance at 15th and 40th, and we will set up lines at other entrances if we have enough people. We may also have roving picket lines at various worksites throughout campus. UAW local 4121 may officially strike or rank-and-file UAW members may unofficially walk out to protest the layoffs of hundreds of TAs and the large class sizes that will result. WFSE local 1488 and SEIU local 925 both passed resolutions supporting the UAW and reminding their members of their right not to cross the picket lines of another union or employee organization for safety reasons.

We know from talking with many workers in a variety of sectors that you would like to join us on the picket lines May 3rd. We know that you recognize that no fight can be won alone--that solidarity among all workers is necessary for the movement to grow and victories to be won. We are humbled by your willingness to not cross the picket lines as long as students and workers are striking, and we pledge that we will support you with follow up protests if management threatens to fire you for making this choice.

And when the time comes for you to strike and fight for your right for a fair contract, or safe working conditions, or a wage that will support your children’s' educations and healthy upbringings, you can count on our support.

Join the May 3 strike, for wages, job security, benefits, and accessibility to higher education.

In Solidarity,

UW Student Worker Coalition

From: uwddc-bounces@mailman2.u.washington.edu [mailto:uwddc-bounces@mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of LOUIS PISANO
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 3:19 PM
To: 'uwddc@u.washington.edu'
Subject: [UW Administration] Proposed Student Strike - May 3, 2010

Dear Leaders,

The University has become aware that several groups have been notifying the campus community of a proposed student strike on May 3, in which some employees may choose to participate and show their support.

Employees are, of course, free to express themselves in a variety of ways with regard to such issues. Participating in demonstrations, rallies, or other expressive activities before or after work hours or during their lunch period or break period is permitted. However, employees who decide to participate by taking an unapproved, unscheduled absence from work may be subject to discipline.

You should also know that public employees (which include employees of University Medical Center and Harborview Medical Center, and all other University employees) do not have the right to strike under their collective bargaining agreement and state law. Any employee who participates in an unlawful work stoppage may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including the termination of employment from the University.

Please contact your Human Resources consultant if you observe any unusual activities in the workplace, if you have any questions or concerns related to proposed labor actions, or before you proceed with any disciplinary action.

Sincerely,
Lou Pisano

Lou Pisano
Assistant Vice President of Labor Relations
Office of Human Resources, Box 354555
1100 NE Campus Parkway, Room 306
Seattle, WA 98105
206-616-0885 fax: 206-616-1081

_________________________________________

Letters of Support Pour in!

2010-04-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
The UW Student Worker Coalition and Strikers have received numerous letters of Support!! Many many thanks to all those who wrote in.

Click on the links below to see each one!

NEW! Letter from Cesare Casarino, Faculty of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Minnesota

Letter from Silvia Federici, Faculty Emerita, HOFSTRA University, member of Midnight Notes collective and Edu-Factory Collective

Letter from George Caffentzis, Faculty at University of Southern Maine, member Midnight Notes Collective and Edu-Factory Collective

Letter from Jeffrey J. Williams, Professor of English and of Literary and Cultural Studies, Carnegie Mellon University, Editor, the minnesota review

Letter from Therese Quinn, Associate Professor of Art Education, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Letter from Academic Workers for A Democratic Union from California, UAW members

Follow-Up Press Release regarding Police

2010-04-22T10:01:00.001-07:00

KPLU !

PRESS RELEASE- For Immediate Release

April 22, 2010

UWstudentworkercoalition@gmail.com

Nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com

Police Infiltration of Student Group Just the Latest in Ongoing Harassment by the UWPD
On April 8, plainclothes UW police officer Tanesha Van Leuven infiltrated and participated in a student organization meeting to plan a campus strike on May 3. The action will include all-day picket lines beginning at 8am at 15th & 40th, and an 11am picnic with picketers.
In an interview with KIRO, UW Police Commander Jerome Solomon openly admitted the infiltration, stating, "We saw that they were having an open meeting and we sent an officer in plain clothes." Solomon confirmed that the plainclothes officer did not identify herself as law enforcement. The Student Worker Coalition welcomes the administration's recognition that the UW Police Department's conduct was unacceptable. Associate Vice President Norm Arkans correctly notes, "When something like this happens, it erodes trust among elements in our community."
The administration is incorrect, however, to suggest that the incident represents an isolated "error in judgment." Police intimidation of student and worker activists occurs routinely on campus. Although the administration may oppose police intimidation on paper, the University has condoned the UWPD's ongoing and systematic harassment of campus activists, despite longstanding and well-publicized efforts by ourselves and other activists to hold campus police accountable to the university community.
Coalition members have made it clear to the University administration that police intimidation was unacceptable since the UWPD first began to target us in 2009. The University has failed to act on these complaints, meaningfully hold the UWPD accountable, or implement police accountability structures to receive and investigate complaints about the UWPD.
In September of 2009, two activist journalists, both women of color, were arrested by the UWPD for criminal trespass and spent a night in jail after interviewing custodians in the Health Sciences Building about their working conditions. Real Change News covered the arrests and coalition member group Democracy Insurgent wrote a statement condemning the arrests, but the University failed to take action.
From September 2009 to January 2010, UWPD surveilled and harassed custodians organizing against unsafe and abusive working conditions on an ongoing basis. Campus police officers were regularly present at swingshift workers' clock-in stations in Health Sciences to question custodians about their break meetings. Dayshift workers faced similar conditions. In December, a custodian break meeting in Health Sciences organized by registered student groups International Workers and Students for Justice and UW National Lawyers Guild was disrupted by Officer Russ Sattarov, a uniformed UWPD officer. Democracy Insurgent and UW National Lawyers Guild sent an open letter to UW Custodial Services condemning this police intimidation and subsequently organized a protest when the university did not respond. A story about this action and the police intimidation that precipitated it was covered on the front page of The Daily. Again, the University failed to take action.
Anti-budget cuts organizers are not the only activists who have been targeted by the UWPD. During a May Day rally in Red Square in 2009, Officer Van Leuven--the same officer who infiltrated the SWC meeting-- was amongst UW police officers who threatened activists from Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlán (MEChA) with arrest while selectively enforcing amplified sound regulations. This incident was also reported in the Daily, yet the administration did not take action.
This is far more than an "error in judgment." Police intimidation of activists is an ongoing policy and practice of the UW police department that is condoned by the UW administration. We demand that this police harassment end immediately.

We also demand that the University take steps to establish a meaningful process to hold the police accountable to our community. The administration has said it will meet with the police department to have conversations "about the kinds of things that are acceptable in our community and the kinds of things that are not." The University community has not been invited to this meeting, and the administration has not engaged us in a conversation about what police conduct is and is not acceptable. In fact, neither the UWPD nor the administration have apologized to us for the infiltration of our meeting. More importantly, the University has made no assurances that it will do anything to establish a disinterested mechanism to hold the UWPD accountable for police misconduct. As a first step, the University should issue a statement condemning and apologizing for this pattern of abuse, and must commit itself fully to establishing transparent, community oversight of the UWPD.

UW Student Worker Coalition # uwstudentworkercoalition@gmail.com

FaDU writes open letter to UAW Bargaining Team

2010-04-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

April 21, 2012

To the members of the UAW Local 4121 Bargaining Team:

As you have communicated to union membership, negotiations between the University of Washington and UAW Local 4121, representing Academic Student Employees at UW, to secure a strong and fair contract for 2010-2013, have been challenging. Since bargaining began in early March, 2010, UW management have come to the table with nothing but takeaways for some of their most essential and lowest paid employees. According to UAW 4121's bargaining updates, UW's position has changed very little, if at all, over the six weeks of bargaining since. Less than two weeks remain before ASEs' current contract expires. UW management have made it clear that they have every intention of pushing through draconian working conditions for the people who do half the university's teaching and a large amount of its research. But they've also made it clear what they fear -- that we, whose work they so depend on, will go on strike....read more HERE.

PRESS RELEASE--UWPD Infiltrate Student Organization

2010-04-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: see story on KIRO TV!

See Press Release below! Go here to sign strike pledge!

PRESS RELEASE- For Immediate Release

April 20, 2010

Press Contacts:

UW Student Worker Coalition—uwstudentworkercoalition@gmail.com

http://nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com

Undercover Police Infiltrate Registered Student Organization at University of Washington

Seattle, WA-- On Thursday April 8, students, workers, and instructors welcomed an unfamiliar face to a publicly advertised meeting for a campus-wide strike May 3rd. A woman who identified herself simply as “Tani" described herself as an "alum" of UW who was passionate about the cuts. She also said that her father worked with Waste Management and she was in the meeting to find out what the May 3rd strike committee was involved in with regards to the Teamsters' recent call for a strike. "Tani" actively participated in the planning meeting for a large-scale action demanding immigrant and worker justice, student access to UW, and smaller class sizes and writing center to improve education. The following week, however, student activists accidently bumped into “Tani” again—this time, though, as Officer Tanesha van Leuven of the UWPD. We have reason to believe that Tani was sent by the University of Washington to spy on the meeting.

The University of Washington has made police infiltration and intimidation its primary tactic for retaliating against workers and activists fighting privatization at UW. In the Fall and Winter of 2009, immigrant workers faced continuous harassment from the UWPD for talking with other workers about their working conditions, clearly violating labor law. That September, two women of color journalists and activists—a childcare worker and a pre-nursing student—were arrested after interviewing immigrant women workers during their break time about the challenges they face in the workplace. With layoffs and arbitrary shift changes being enforced by custodial services, many workers have experienced inhumane amounts of extra work and speed up. UWPD officers also often harass students who choose to organize within on-campus registered student organizations while they are handing out flyers, or even just walking on campus going to class. For example, last Tuesday, while passing out flyers and talking with students, two women graduate students were approached by a bike officer of the UWPD who told them “I wish I could arrest people for no reason.” These attacks, the violence perpetrated against activists in Seattle, Portland, and Olympia, the increase in police killing of unarmed people of color, and now the covert infiltration of a student group by UWPD raise serious and alarming questions about possible violence and surveillance against students and workers at the hands of the University and its police force.

Since June of 2009, workers, students, and community members have been fighting against lay-offs of immigrant workers, increases in tuition that exclude working students and students of color, cuts to quality education, and an ongoing process of privatization that favors revenue for some at the top of the university, while taking funds away from students and workers. While the university’s state budget continues to be cut, the reality is this cut is less than 3% of the total UW budget. In fact, most of the budget shortfall—$469 million—came from the university's risky investments, NOT from the cuts from the state. Since 2004, the UW Treasury has been investing in hedge funds, and hiking tuition, from $4968 in 2003 to $8800 in 2010, to back up these investments should they default. Rather than cutting from the top, and changing its spending focuses, the university continues to perpetuate the myth that tuition hikes go toward ameliorating the state cuts.

On March 4th, while over 700 students and workers were protesting budget cuts on and off campus, and many more were protesting across the country, the UW met with the UAW 4121, Academic Student Employees (ASE’s), bargaining team to start contract negotiations. At this meeting, the UW told UAW negotiators that because they opposed a tuition increase bill in the legislature in February, the University would retaliate against all ASE’s by taking away lay-off protections, increasing healthcare premiums, and firing all tutors and writing center instructors, among other take-aways. Many UAW members are pushing their elected representatives to call a strike, which was already authorized by membership, to begin the first day after contract negotiations if the University continues to bargain in bad faith. The May 3rd student strike was planned to correspond with this day, and to support custodians and other state workers facing cuts.

Through its actions, the University PD has shown itself to be unaccountable to students and the UW community. It does, however, do the work of controlling student movements on behalf of the UW administration. The UWPD and the UW administration seek to curtail organizing by workers and students, but they will not succeed.

UW Student Worker Coalition # uwstudentworkercoalition@gmail.com

Sign the May 3 Strike Pledge Online

2010-04-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

Pledge to join the May 3 campus strike against budget cuts, part of a month of action for labor and immigrant rights. Click here: http://nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com/p/may-3-strike-pledge.html

May 3rd Strike Committee Meetings - New Dates/Times

2010-04-14T02:14:00.000-07:00

The strike committee for the May 3rd campus strike is now in full-swing. We have moved from one meeting a week to two. Those meetings are now on Monday and Thursday evenings at 6pm at the UW-Seattle campus, Smith Hall 405.

The next meeting is this Thursday (4/15) at 6pm in Smith Hall 405.

Hope to see you there.

Sincerely,
Strike Committee

Next Strike Committee 6 PM TUES April 13 Smith 405!!

2010-04-11T07:02:00.001-07:00

Please note change in date and time for next strike committee!!

Join May 3rd Strike Committee

2010-04-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

STRIKE!

~ May 3RD 2010 ~

On March 4th, nearly 1000 students, workers and community members came out to declare a definitive NO! to the budget cuts that affect all of us. We were bold and united, inspired by one another’s presence, and felt our collective power on the streets!

WE WANT TO DO IT AGAIN.

Join the STRIKE COMMITTEE on

THURS (APRIL 8TH) at 7:15pm

SMITH 405

EVERYONE IS WELCOME

~ UW annual tuition will increase by 30% in 2 years. This will make the university less accessible for working class students and students of color. We will be taking out more student loans that take a lifetime to pay back.

~800 workers were laid off by the UW in 2009. More will follow this year.

~In April 2010, the UAW, representing Teaching and Research Assistants are negotiating their contract with the UW. 600 TAs may lose their jobs. Our TAs work conditions are our learning condition! We need to demand SMALL CLASS SIZES so we don’t end up paying MORE for LESS

~State workers’ healthcare is slated to be cut by $ 220 million this year. Healthcare premiums will double, and out-of-pocket maximums will increase from $ 2000 to $ 7500 per person. This is more than a $5000 increase

All this time, the top administrators continue to make big salaries WELL above

$150, 000 without taking pay cuts; and the WA state legislature refuses to

TAX THE RICH

We did not create this crisis. We should not pay for it with our futures and our health. In solidarity with teaching and research assistants, students, custodians and state workers:

No Business as Usual.

Save the date: May 3rd STRIKE

Si se puede!

The Strike committee meets every Thurs. email us at UWStudentWorkerCoalition@gmail.com

Reflections on March 4th 2010 by Democracy Insurgent

2010-03-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Democracy Insurgent, a member group of the Student Worker Coalition, recently wrote a piece reflecting on March 4th. We take up questions of leadership, democracy and mass movement dynamics we hope to learn from for our next actions.

Please read the reflection piece here

"They Ain't Seen Nothin Yet" - General Assembly Reportback

2010-03-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

During the student strike on March 4th, the UW Student Worker Coalition (UWSWC) called for a General Assembly (GA) to discuss the next steps in the fight against budget cuts and privatization. For those of you who wanted to attend but couldn't make it, here is a very brief summary of the GA:

At the GA, there was overwhelming support for the May 3rd grad student worker strike. Grad student workers such as TAs and RAs are negotiating their contract right now and the UW administration is demanding concessions that will lower their pay, threaten their job security, and require them to pay more for health care. They will be striking on the 3rd to resist this. They will also be striking to fight for smaller class sizes which will benefit undergrads. The majority of people at the GA supported proposals for a student strike on the same day in solidarity with the grad student workers becuase we will be more powerful if we fight together.

Many people at the GA also agreed to support those rank and file WFSE local 1488 workers who want to strike against massive cuts to their healthcare and other abuses; if WFSE workers do decide to strike, we can encourage them to do so on May 3rd, the same day as grad student workers and undergrads so that our combined power will be stronger.

Many people at the GA proposed that we can actually shut down the campus with firmer picket lines then we had on March 4th. March 4th was a half day student strike; May 3rd could be a full day or longer joint student-worker strike similar to what happened at UC Santa Cruz. If we don't get to that point by the beginning of May, then we'll do as much as we can.

The GA recommended that April be a month of agitation/outreach to build for the May 3rd strike. The three most popular event recommendations for April were:

1) Debate between anti-budget cuts organizer(s) and Young Democrats, Young Republicans, Libertarians, Mark Emmert, or the Board of Regents (obviously lots of potential opponents - yet to be decided). The debate would be a method to make our analysis of the budget cuts (at the state level and the university level) more public. It would also be an opportunity to foreground the need for a mass movement uniting both students and workers at UW, as well as the broader community.

2) Fundraiser to build a strike fund for lower-paid WFSE workers, so that a day-long or multiple day strike would be more feasible for workers.

3) Teach-in - Could be about the budget cuts, the history of resistance at UW, the importance of strikes, etc. The topic(s) have yet to be finalized.

There was also support for a possible day of action on May 27th or May 28th which MEChA may organize as part of their national conference.

We discussed how we can reach out to more students from groups at the Ethnic Cultural Center; many students from these groups came out to the March 4th strike.

Announcements:
1) The independent graduate student labor group, For a Democratic University (FaDU) is holding a rally outside of their contract negotiations. Please come out and support them as they pressure the university to negotiate a fair contract.
When: March 31st, 3:30pm
Where: South Campus Center

We hope individuals and groups will continue to join the struggle for our education and our jobs. Please let us know if you would like to be involved in any of the upcoming events or organizing efforts. We can be reached at uwstudentworkercoalition@gmail.com. The UW Student Worker Coalition meets every Thursday at 6pm in Suzzallo Cafe.

In Struggle,
UWSWC

UW IN A CRISIS: A CALL TO ACTION by For a Democratic University

2010-03-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

Statement put out by FaDU regarding recent contract negotiations go to forademocraticuniversity.blogspot.com for more!

UW IN A CRISIS: A CALL TO ACTION

by For A Democratic University, an independent graduate student labor group

The University is in a crisis – but who’s paying for it? While students were striking on March 4th, negotiations were taking place between the UAW (the union representing TAs, RAs, graders, and writing tutors) and the University administration. The union is beginning its bargaining for a new contract for the workers it represents. This contract sets the base pay, benefits, and working conditions for thousands of academic student employees (ASEs) at UW.

What is our union’s bargaining team asking for?

1. Increase earnings for all ASEs to keep pace with increases in cost of living, work requirements and peer wages

2. Secure improvements to the current health program, such that services are adequately covered, ASEs with extraordinary costs are protected, dependents are more affordably covered and plan administration is improved

3. Ensure that ASEs' ability to maintain quality in their jobs is not hindered by inadequate staffing or resources.

A strong contract should not stop here! FaDU also demands:

1. Free, quality childcare for all ASE’s

2. Smaller class sizes for teaching assistants; no class size increase due to “budget cuts”

3. The same health insurance plan offered to permanent UW employees.

However, the University has responded to the union bargaining team with regressive cuts and punitive takeaways:

1. Elimination of wage increases

2. Weakening of layoff protections for ASEs who have already been offered appointments

3. Changes to variable pay practices, such that ASEs currently being paid above base rates could be dropped to lower pay rates

4. Placing the burden of paying health insurance premiums upon ASEs.

Mark Emmert keeps telling us to lobby Olympia and that Olympia is the problem when it comes to budget cuts. Yet at the opening of bargaining, the UW administration attacked our union on its political work in Olympia against privatization of tuition setting authority (the defeated “Kilmer bill” would have transferred tuition control from the legislature to the un-elected UW Board of Regents). Is the University administration retaliating against our union for lobbying in Olympia? Is Mark Emmert acting in good faith when he tells us to organize in Olympia and not on campus?

At every contract negotiation, the administration always demands cuts – they say this is to increase productivity, but for us it means more work under worse conditions and lowers the quality of education for everyone. An economic crisis, when job prospects are insecure and budget cuts seem inevitable, is the perfect opportunity for UW administration to demand deeper cuts to grad student workers than ever before. But what we really need right now are better working conditions, and we need improvements beyond what the union has asked for. We need a quality health insurance plan like the one offered to permanent university employees – our current plan doesn't even cover basic preventive care. We need small class sizes so that we can actually teach; many TAs currently teach to 50-150 students. And we need childcare – the cost of which currently consumes our entire paycheck. The University partially subsidizes childcare for students, but the wait list can take years.

We do essential work for this university, from writing multi-million research grants to teaching quiz sections and full classes, but we are also at the lowest end of the salary scale. Mark Emmert earns a whopping $900,000 per year while a typical research assistant earns $20,000 annually. Mark Emmert’s job is not the most important on campus! Without our labor in the classrooms, in the labs, in university writing centers, the university would not function. This is the power that UW administration will respond to, not to charts that show how poor we are or how the budget cuts have hurt us. Administration already knows this; they write our paychecks! Our labor is our power.

What can we do fight for the wage increases, better health care, smaller class sizes, and child care that we need? The University has entered negotiations aggressively; they've shown us that they will not give in unless we demonstrate that campus business can't and won't continue without us. Therefore, it is crucial that we build a strong movement of all workers that will force the University to compromise their exploitative plans to OUR demands, not the other way around. Ultimately we will need to strike, but this is something we have to build toward.

Here are some steps that For a Democratic University proposes:

“Grade-in” March 16, 1-5pm, HUB 1st floor (by info desk): Grade and work together as we tally how much money we make for the UW

March 31, 3:30 PM, South Campus Center (behind Health Sciences): Picket outside the first union / administration bargaining meeting of spring quarter.

April 5, 5 PM, Smith 205: Grad student general assembly

Week of April 12, time/place TBA: Special panel on with international students for immigrants’ rights!

April 30: End of contract negotiations.

May 3: First Monday after negotiations end. UAW members strike!

For A Democratic University faduni@gmail.com ~ http://forademocraticuniversity.blogspot.com/

GENERAL ASSEMBLY--THURSDAY 6 PM SMITH 205!

2010-03-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

March 4th was incredible! Thanks for everyone to come out. With a thousand people at the strike, and hundreds shutting down the Ave, we had a successful STEP in making the UW a democratic place! But things are still heating up...come out Thursday at 6 PM to Smith 205 for a GENERAL ASSEMBLY to talk about NEXT STEPS! Forward Widely, and stay tuned for a report back on March 4 events.

Continuing Press Roundup!

2010-03-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

VIDEO made by member of FaDU/UW SWC

MORE PRESS!
Badger Herald in Madison, Wisconsin
Real Change
Kiro TV 1
More KIRO TV
Seattle PI
KOMO
Seattle Times, More w/Pictures (click on gallery)
On at 4 Minutes from 3/5/10: KUOW's All Things Considered
UW Daily
KIRO Radio-Pictures
Kiro radio story
KIRO TV
The Stranger
KUOW
Everett Herald

Q13Fox's vague coverage

KPLU

Don't be Bamboozled by the Budget!

2010-03-03T17:53:00.001-08:00

Don't be Bamboozled by UW budget! -

MEDIA ADVISORY: STUDENT STRIKE!

2010-03-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

Interview on KUOW w/Mark Emmert, with key questions by UWSWC members!! http://kuow.org/program.php?id=19569

Already had coverage in PI, and check out KIRO Radio (97.3) Dave Ross Show archives for an interview that occurred today! Also, there has reportedly been coverage on King 5...

MORE!!: http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=292004

_____________________________________

MEDIA ADVISORY

For Immediate Release: Monday, March 1, 2010

Contact: UW Student Worker Coalition (UWstudentworkercoalition@gmail.com)

UW Students Strike to Defend Public Education

Seattle, WA- Since the first round of budget cuts and extreme tuition hikes last Spring, workers and students have been working together to fight the restructuring of the University that President Mark Emmert has called a “market-driven business model.” So far, this model has included unsafe working conditions, extra-work and layoffs for workers and larger class sizes, higher tuition, and less access to teaching assistants and writing tutors for undergraduates. The restructuring of the University has hit working students, students of color, and students with disabilities particularly hard, and also made access to the University more difficult for low income youth and youth of color, as well as those currently attending Seattle’s community colleges. UW currently educates about 40,000 students and is the third largest employer in the state of Washington.

In solidarity with the March 4th National Day of Action to Defend Public Education, the UW Student Worker Coalition (UWSWC), comprised of workers, students, and community members, is organizing a student strike to take place at 1PM on the quad, where many classes are held. This student strike was called in accordance with the general strikes called in California by AFSCME Local 444 and the San Francisco Labor Council. Many other unions and organizations across California have called for strikes or other actions. At UW, UAW Local 4121 (Academic Student Employees, such as TA’s and tutors), WFSE 1488 (mostly trades workers and custodians) and SEIU 925 (office and technical workers) have all endorsed the student strike and encouraged their members to attend the picket lines on their own time. Workers and students will stand together on picket lines in the quad, while For a Democratic University, a graduate student organization, keeps up displays and information sessions about the legacy of activism at UW, the significance of strikes, and the budget cuts at UW. In addition to UW workers and students, high school students from West Seattle, community college students, and other organized workers from around the city plan to attend the strike as well.

UW SWC’s demands include transparent and democratic budget allocation; cut from the top administrators with a salary cap of $150,000; no lay-offs; no speed-ups for workers; accessible public education especially for people of color, women, queer folks, and people with disabilities; a freeze on tuition; and to replace loans with grants for financial aid.

Who: Sponsor- UW Student Worker Coalition (UW SWC)

What: Student Strike, part of March 4th National Day of Action

When: Thursday, March 4th 1 PM

Where: University of Washington Campus, the Quad

For more information, contact UW SWC at uwstudentworkercoalition@gmail.com

WFSE 1488 and UAW 4121 and SEIU 925 Endorse Student Strike!!

2010-02-24T15:16:00.001-08:00

Here is text of these endorsements!!

WFSE 1488 Endorsement

UPDATE! : SEIU 925 has also supported!!

UAW 4121 Endorsement:

Whereas, UAW Local 4121 members experience the impacts of the budget crisis and UW’s response to it on multiple levels: including as workers who are having our jobs slashed with the reduction of courses and key educational services (such as tutoring centers), as workers whose grants are strained by increasing tuition and loss of critical staff, and as students who are struggling to pay for our education and get the courses and academic support we need;

Whereas, UAW Local 4121 members have joined other students, workers, and community allies in the fight for a progressive vision of education in Washington; and applauds the efforts of other campus groups and unions to participate in a national day of action on Match 4th, especially the resolution adopted by UAW Local 2856 on January 30, 2010 and AFSCME/WFSE Local 1488 on February 20, 2010;

Whereas the combined strength of students and workers increases our chance of defeating both furloughs and tuition hikes;

Whereas UAW Local 4121 sees our upcoming contract negotiations as part of this broad movement to defend jobs and public education;

Be it resolved, UAW Local 4121 endorses the “National March 4th Strike and Day of Action to Defend Public Education,” and specifically on the UW campus endorses the “Student Strike” called by the UW Student Worker Coalition on March 4th and commits its resources and leadership to in supporting membership participation in campus, statewide, and national actions.

Further, UAW Local 4121 encourages members to participate in the Day of Action and UW Student Worker Coalition “Student Strike” on their personal time, and also for those members who teach or tutor during this time to not retaliate against or otherwise hinder students who take part in the strike;

Further, UAW Local 4121 also calls on all other unions, labor organizations, and progressive communities to endorse the March 4th mobilizations and commit resources to making it the broadest, most effective movement possible.

Statement on High Tuition/High Aid

2010-02-23T15:52:00.000-08:00

Student Liberation Front, a relatively new group of undergraduates who are a part of the UW SWC, recently wrote this piece on the failure of the "High Tuition/High Aid" model!

Public Statement on the High Tuition/High Aid Model
by the UW Student Liberation Front (SLF)

Low tuition and high aid in the form of need-based grants are NOT incompatible. In fact, both are necessary to keep UW truly accessible and public. Calling for one but not the other will only push low-income students, students of color, women, queer folks, and students with disabilities out of the university; effectively transforming UW into a whiter, elitist institution for the wealthy. President Emmert has justified his move towards higher tuition by promising higher financial aid for low-income students through grant programs like the Husky Promise. This high tuition/high aid model is a failed strategy to bring in more low-income youth in both the short and long-term. In their seminal research report entitled "Losing by Degrees," the Economic Opportunity Institute showed that universities across the nation that have adopted this model have resulted in significant REDUCTIONS, not increases, of enrollment by low-income students and students of color. At the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (UM), enrollment of freshmen from households earning less than $75,000 dropped from 34.6% in 1997 to 26.6% in 2007; enrollment of black students decreased from 8.4% in 1999 to 6.7% in 2008. Predicting that the same may happen at UW in the short-term, perhaps this is why Emmert has already hit the road promoting the Husky Promise. In the long-term, the high aid in the form of grants will likely drop, leaving only a high tuition model in place. We already see this trend happening with Governor Gregoire's first draft of the 2010 supplemental budget, which will cut the State Need-Based Grant program by $146.4 million, causing 12,300 students to lose their grants. By his own admission of Gregoire's budget, Emmert wrote that "the 7,000 students [currently on the Husky Promise] would be unable to continue." Emmert has provided no solution to keeping the Husky Promise and need-based grants outside blaming Olympia; meanwhile, tuition of in-state residents will be increasing at least 28% this year and next combined, and Emmert is pushing to see the Kilmer Bill passed so that the Board of Regents have full tuition setting ability, a euphemism for unrestricted control to hike up tuition far beyond this 28%. Why has Emmert devoted so much effort to hike up tuition through Olympia but not to preserve need-based grants?
This riddle could be solved simply by looking at the unwritten premise behind the Husky Promise and the high tuition/high aid model. On paper, the Husky Promise is a "guarantee to Washington state students that we will not let financial challenges stand in the way of...achieving a UW degree." This sugar coating Promise was strategic in convincing low-income students that they could still access the university and projecting Emmert as a friend to working-class families, while deeper changes of privatization of the university could simultaneously occur unnoticed. Three years later amid a state budget crisis, Emmert's call for higher tuition instead of lower tuition and more grants is revealing not only the priorities of the Regents, but also the initial underlying purpose behind the Husky Promise: privatization via tuition hikes for students. Privatization essentially means less state input and more corporate control over UW, as evidenced by the Regents sitting on the boards of various big businesses. By increasing tuition and student services fees, the Regents have a secure source of money outside state funding that can be freely used to fund corporate projects and priorities and to leverage further investment. This explains why workers have been easily cut, at the same time that construction of new facilities and labs are occurring, so long as the Regents believe the latter is profit-generating. We are witnessing a wholesale deprioritization of education at UW (layoffs of workers who maintain classrooms, increased class sizes) and a shift to profit-generating activities such as research. If Emmert believes that education is public and a priority of UW, then he would have pushed for low tuition and increased grant aid for low-income students. The UW Student Liberation Front is demanding low tuition and increased financial aid in the form of grants. We are fighting for the preservation of the Husky Promise, and re-envisioning it not as a means to increase tuition, as Emmert wants, but as an ends because low-income students have a right to higher education. The Student Liberation Front meets on Mondays at 7:00pm in Suzzallo Cafe. -Veryl Pow UW Student Liberation Front (uwstudentliberationfront@gmail.com)

WFSE 1488 Endorses Student Strike!

2010-02-22T10:54:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, WFSE Local 1488 Unanimously voted to endorse the student strike!! See the resolution below; if you are a member of UAW 4121, COME OUT TUESDAY FEB 23rd at 7 PM to vote for UAW to pass a similar resolution!

RESOLUTION PASSED BY WFSE 1488

Whereas the Student Worker Coalition at the University of Washington (composed mostly of students but also including campus workers and community members) is organizing to oppose the budget cuts and including in their demands that tuition be frozen and that workers wages, benefits and working conditions be protected,

Whereas hundreds of students participated in the 7,000 strong labor led rally on the steps of the state capitol on Feb 15th,

Whereas the March 4th day of action is part of a national day of action, and that AFSCME

Local 444, along with numerous other labor locals and councils in California, including California Labor Federation, which has over 2 million workers in unions has resolved to "support ... a statewide strike and/or day of action on March 4th, 2010, in California

Be it resolved that WFSE Local 1488 endorse the Student strike called by the U.W. Student/Worker Coalition on March 4th at 1pm composed of a rally on the QUAD and informational picket lines.

Be it further resolved that WFSE Local 1488 encourage it's members to participate in the student's informational picket lines on their personal time.

Skip Class once so you have class next year!!

2010-02-22T10:46:00.001-08:00

Flyer put out by UWSWC--Support the strike! Also, go to the facebook event page

Open letter to Mark Emmert: Come to the Picket Lines!!

2010-02-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

On February 2nd, 2010, Mark Emmert and others gave a "town hall" on the budget cuts (see more here). Students and workers responded, and were angry--he told us to go to olympia, while the cuts here are being made by him, Charles Kennedy, Gene Woodard, and other top-level administrators. We wrote this letter as UW SWC to see if Emmert is serious bout supporting workers and students of color!

February 19, 2010

Open Letter to Mark Emmert:

On February 2nd, 2010, you, along with 4 other panelists, were part of a Town Hall meeting concerning the 2010 budget cuts to financial aid at the University of Washington. Student after student questioned you on the financial situation at UW, particularly regarding why, when the UW budget is growing, these devastating cuts to students and workers on campus are being instituted. Additionally, you were questioned on how the cuts to financial aid would affect students of color and working class/low income students. Repetitively, you answered these questions by asserting your allegiance to students and to diversity on this campus. Specifically, you cite your commitment to the Husky Promise, a program you created and are very proud of. Furthermore, you continue to place blame at the feet of the state legislators as well as donors to this school who apparently specify where their donations should go. You cite this as the reason for why money cannot be moved around to alleviate the effects of these cuts to students and workers on campus. You say you want to fight to keep diversity alive and hold on to the Husky Promise.

When questioned about the layoffs of custodians and other workers on campus, you said that as the person with ultimate firing power, it is a very difficult job deciding who should be let go. However, it seems hypocritical to say this while the university hires more managers and supervisors in custodial services and the trades, and while many administrators and directors continue to make over $150,000. In fact, Charles Kennedy, Associate Vice President of Facilities Services received a 30% raise from 2007 to 2009, bumping his salary up from $200,000 to $260,000.

We are glad that under pressure from the UW community, top administrators agreed to give 5% of their salaries to a scholarship fund. However, this leaves many top administrators with salaries well in excess of $150,000 per year. It should not be a voluntary choice, but instead a UW policy that salaries be capped at $150,000 a year. Instead of recapturing $600,000 as this 5% voluntary contribution does, a firm salary cap would restore over $5 million to the UW budget. This $5 million could be used to re-hire laid off workers, increase class offerings, reverse speedup/overwork for workers, reduce tuition or increase support to the libraries. All of these projects are far more important and useful to the UW than maintaining the exorbitant salaries of top administrators.

At the Town Hall, you expressed that you would like to see students lobbying for our demands in Olympia. We, the UW Student/Worker Coalition, are committed to fighting against the budget cuts here at UW. You accused one of us of not being in Olympia to lobby on a daily basis, but this is an unreasonable expectation. How can full-time workers and students, many of whom have jobs, afford to travel to Olympia regularly? We will make a few trips and we were there on February 15th, rallying and demanding that the legislature fork over what we need. But, we also believe that students and workers on this campus should not have to bear the brunt of the damaging effects of these cuts, including the potential layoffs of workers, as well as cuts to financial aid and student services. Members of our coalition were present at the Town Hall meeting and found your answers to be inadequate when you were questioned on the financial situation. Instead, since you seem so adamant about fighting these cuts, we propose that you support our coalition’s efforts in organizing a mass movement of students and workers on campus to fight back.

The UW Student/Worker Coalition is planning a student strike against budget cuts on March 4th, 2010 here at UW- Seattle beginning at 1 PM on the Quad. March 4th is the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education. Students and workers all over the country will be engaging in actions to demand that public education be fully funded in a way that does not subjugate the needs of workers, working class students, students of color, women, queer folks, and people with disabilities. On this day, we are calling for a student strike to send a strong message to Olympia that students and workers have the power to stop business as usual. If you really want to defend public education, you, Mark Emmert, should support our action. First, publicly announce your support. Secondly, mandate that all professors and managers not retaliate against those that participate in the action. Make it clear that if any professor or manager fires, disciplines, grades down, or otherwise punishes a student or worker for participating in the strike then you will fire that person. Finally, walk the picket lines with us to truly show your support for students on this campus.

On the webpage for the Husky Promise Scholarship, you are quoted saying, "The Husky Promise is our guarantee to the state’s kids that if you work hard, there’s a spot for you here."1 However, this “promise” seems to be in a precarious position. According to you, “We will not be able to offer the Husky-Promise program if those cuts come to pass.”2 You implore the campus community to join the struggle against the budget cuts, acknowledging that “We have to work together, collectively…”3 Well, we feel the same way. However, we challenge you to truly demonstrate your commitment to working collectively with the students and workers at UW. How much do you mean what you say about the Husky Promise and the importance of diversity on campus? How far are you willing to go to support students of color? How badly do you want to stop firing immigrant workers? Will you join our efforts to unite the campus and fight together, “collectively?”

We expect an answer by February 25th, 2010 at 12pm.

Sincerely,

UW Student/Worker Coalition

UWStudentWorkerCoalition@gmail.com

Rank and File Support!

2010-02-22T10:28:00.000-08:00

On February 15th, over 7,000 workers, students, people receiving public benefits, and teachers rallied in Olympia. At this rally, members of IWSJ handed out flyers to other rank and file workers calling for a cross-local meeting. The flyer highlights the increasing number of workplace injuries in custodial services at UW.

STUDENT STRIKE MARCH 4TH!

2010-02-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

UWSWC is calling for a student strike, starting at 1 PM, picket lines 1:20, on March 4th, the national day of action!! Stay tuned for more analysis, details, and updates! For now, check out this flyer!

UW Worker Solidarity with Haiti

2010-02-04T10:18:00.001-08:00

See flyer below made by IWSJ members. Worker Solidarity from Below!

HAITI DONATION DRIVE

UW CUSTODIANS IN SOLIDARITY WITH HAITIAN WORKERS

On Jan 12^th 2010, a disastrous earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, the capital of the Caribbean country, Haiti.

200,000 people have died and 3 million have been injured or affected.

Since then, racists like Pat Robertson have said that Haiti deserves the earthquake because they made a pact with the devil when they kicked the French colonizers out in 1804.

Since then, the US military has also occupied Haiti by sending 10, 000 soldiers to the country. A Newsweek interview with the President of Doctors Without Borders, a major aid organization, shows that the US military has blocked the arrival of planes carrying medicine supplies. In one hospital, the medical team was also kicked out. This has cost hundreds of Haitian lives. Why is it that the US military is preventing access to aid at the times when it is most needed?

We need to be together with Haiti. Haiti is a meaningful place for oppressed people. It is where the first Black slave revolt in the Americas took place. In 1804, Black slaves kicked out their masters, the French colonizers. They demanded freedom and dignity in their lives and workplaces.

This is an inspiring story for workers around the world.

The Haitian Revolution encouraged slave revolts in the US and independence movements in Africa. Our struggles are also a part of this long, proud international tradition of workers fighting together for justice, against racism.

We ask for donations to the Haitian people that will reach them in this time of crisis. All proceeds will go toward the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund.

STUDENT STRIKE MARCH 4th!

2010-02-02T23:52:00.000-08:00

In Solidarity with Califorinia schools and with the national day of action, the UW Student Worker Coalition is planning for a 1 hour strike on March 4th. The goal of this strike is to show the University what can happen if the cuts continue, and to show that this is only the beginning of our struggle! Details and flyers soon. In the meantime, here is a flyer created by International Workers and Students for Justice. And below the jump, see a resolution proposed by workers in California to support a statewide strike! Also, check out Advance the Struggle's site (http://advancethestruggle.wordpress.com) to see coverage of UW's struggle, and also "what March 4th could look like!"

[Note: The following resolution was adopted unanimously by the San Francisco Labor Council delegates' meeting on January 11, 2010. The resolution was introduced and motivated by OPEIU Local 3 delegate Alan Benjamin. It was further motivated by United Educators of San Francisco President Dennis Kelly.]

Building the March 4 Strike/Day of Action in Defense of Public Education and all Public-Sector Services

Whereas, a powerful labor-student-faculty coalition to defend public education has formed statewide in the aftermath of the Sept. 24, 2009, 5,000-person-strong mass student walkout and university workers' strike at UC Berkeley -- organized around the main demands of "No Budget Cuts! No Layoffs! No Fee Hikes!"; and

Whereas, on October 24, 2009, more than 800 students, unionists and activists from more then 50 cities across the state gathered at UC Berkeley and issued a Call for a March 4, 2010, Strike/Day of Action to Save Public Education; and

Whereas, the California Federation of Teachers (CFT), the California Faculty Association (CFA), and dozens of public education and public-sector unions have endorsed the March 4 Strike/Day of Action; and

Whereas, AFT 2121 and UESF, among others, have called for a 5 p.m. rally at Civic Center in San Francisco on March 4 to impress the demands upon the public; and

Whereas, the January 4, 2010, Executive Board meeting of the San Francisco Labor Council voted unanimously to endorse the March 4 Strike/Day of Action, and the March 22 March in Sacramento (spearheaded by the Community College students and unions); and

Whereas, the attacks on public education and all public-sector services are deepening as a result of the growing state budget deficit, with public education workers being pitted against other public-sector workers, with the threat of increased privatization of services, and with more so-called "reforms" aimed at gutting union contracts and destroying essential services; and

Whereas, the January 4, 2010, SFLC Executive Board meeting affirmed that the Council must call upon all public-sector unions to join in the fight on March 4 to defend public education and all public-sector services, and to secure essential funding by taxing the rich and the corporations, by (1) breaking with the tyranny of the 2/3 vote in the State Assembly and reinstating majority rule, and (2) restructuring Prop 13 (to separate commercial property rolls from residential property rolls, as Phil Teng has proposed); and

Whereas, securing funding for public education and the public sector demands redirecting bailout funds to the state -- not to the bankers and speculators; and ultimately requires calling for an end to war funding in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Therefore be it resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council calls for a citywide mobilization of affiliated unions and community allies on March 4, 2010, in defense of public education and the public sector -- with day-time actions to be carried out in the manner deemed appropriate by every union and local, and with a 5 p.m. Rally at the Civic Center; and

Therefore be it further resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council will form an ad-hoc committee, open to all delegates, in close consultation with the teacher/faculty unions and the Council's Executive Board, with the aim of (1) preparing or distributing existing educational materials on the impact of the budget cuts on the city's public education and public sector, (2) organizing a speakers' bureau to make outreach presentations at the membership and/or leadership meetings of the Council's affiliates, and to affected community groups, and (3) coordinating the actions on March 4 and building the 5 p.m. Civic Center Rally; and

Be it finally resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council asks all Bay Area Councils to take similar action on March 4, and calls upon the California Federation of Labor to promote a statewide Day of Action on March 4 in defense of public education and the public sector, so that we can expand the unity and increase the power of the movement to halt and reverse the attacks on public-sector unions in California.

Respectfully submitted by

Alan Benjamin, delegate OPEIU Local 3

Allan Fisher, delegate AFT 2121

Gus Goldstein, president AFT 2121

Denis Mosgofian, delegate Local 4 GCC-IBT

Ann Robertson, delegate CFA (San Francisco State University)

==================================================================

AFSCME 444 Resolution in support of a statewide strike on March 4 2010

Resolution in support of a statewide strike on March 4 2010

WHEREAS California public education from pre-kindergarten through college and adult ed, is facing its most serious crisis in years; with funding cuts, tuition increases, reduction of college seats available, furlough days for teachers and support staff, and layoffs of employees and outright closures of entire departments; and

WHEREAS unemployment in California has risen to 12.5% and is closer to 25% among youth and even higher among young people of color;

WHEREAS 1.6 million construction jobs have been lost since this recession began with 136,000 construction jobs lost in California this past year and 322,000 public service jobs have been lost in the last four years: and

WHEREAS more job losses are expected as stimulus money dries up; and

WHEREAS 1 in 53 housing units received a foreclosure notice in the California during the third quarter of 2009 as people are being thrown out of their homes as well as their jobs; and

WHEREAS this is occurring as trillions of dollars of taxpayer’s money has been handed to bankers and other financial institutions in the wake of the current crisis, much of it unaccounted for; and

WHEREAS thousands of students at the University of California facing 32% increases in fees and increasing privatization of education, joined striking university employees on September 24th; and

Whereas; following these events a hugely successful conference was held at UC Berkeley on October 24th attended by 800 students, workers and supporters; and

WHEREAS this conference issued a call for a statewide strike and day of action on March 4th 2010 to “Save public education” against budget cuts, fee hikes or layoffs; and

WHEREAS students have faced brutal actions by the police for being in the forefront of the struggle to save education, jobs and for calling for solidarity and joint action with workers; therefore let it be

RESOLVED that AFSCME Local 444 support the October 24th call for a statewide strike and/or day of action on March 4th 2010; and be it further

RESOLVED that AFSCME Local 444 recognizes that without united action no single group or one Union can reverse this offensive ; and be it further

RESOLVED that the 1,200 AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions in the California Labor Federation representing 2.1 million union members in such crucial industries as shipping, retail, manufacturing, public service and communications have tremendous potential power; and be it further

RESOLVED that through a united mobilization of all workers and students regardless of status we can win free federally funded education at all levels, increased jobs, a halt to foreclosures and a better life for all; and be it further

RESOLVED funding for such social needs come from diverting funds from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, from taxing the corporations and the rich, taxing trades in the stock market and currency trades, and not taxes on workers or the middle class. California, the third biggest oil producer in the country is the only one of the 22 major oil states that does not impose a tax on oil taken from the ground; and be it further

RESOLVED that the leadership of the California Labor Federation, the Change to Win Coalition and the international Unions so affiliated to these bodies, as well as non-affiliated Unions join the call for and participate in a statewide strike on March 4th 2010 and publicly announce such intentions; and be it finally

RESOLVED that the resources of organized Labor in California be used between now and March 4th 2010 to build support among the members of its affiliated Unions, the communities in which we live and work, and among the youth for a successful and united statewide strike against the assault on working people and our families.

Adopted by AFSCME Local 444 Executive Board 12-03-09

cc California State Labor Federation AFL-CIO

Alameda County Central Labor Council AFL-CIO

AFSCME District Council 57 AFL-CIO

AFCME International Union AFL-CIO

Over 100 Protest Worker Abuse/Budget Cuts

2010-01-22T14:03:00.001-08:00

Thursday, Jan 21st, workers and students supported one another throughout the day. At 1 PM, workers and students marched to Fisheries to confront abusive manager Yang Sook Choe (see video here ; and letter to abusive managers here )

Several workers and students spoke out against Choe, than marched to Red Square for a rally, then to the Board of Regents to deliver demands! About 50 students went up to the meeting room of the BoR and delivered demands, while downstairs workers and students also delivered demands and chanted, bringing out UW tower employees as well!! See video here )

The demands are below the jump, in an open letter :

UW Student/Worker Coaltion

2010-01-13T13:38:00.000-08:00

A new coalition of students and workers has come together to fight the budget cuts! Open planning meeting TOMORROW! Storm the BOR Jan 21st!

REPORT BACK! Custodian Action

2010-01-13T13:23:00.000-08:00

(see video of action here !!)

yesterday, 30-40 students and worker came out to support custodians facing abuse by management and the cops! Protests targeted the abuse of Andre Vasuqez. Vasquez is WANTED by the UW community for severe abuse!

The Daily of UW covered the protests, as well as ongoing actions by a new coalition, the UW Student/Worker Coalition. (download the paper here)

2010-01-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

Fight Against Worker Abuse!

2010-01-05T22:38:00.000-08:00

Protest Abuse Against UW Custodians!

Meet Tues. Jan 12 at 3:45PM

15th and Pacific

We will meet there, and march to Health Sciences to tell workers that we support them, and abusive managers that we will not stand for their abuse!

Worker abuse over the last several months has increased; 3 managers have been particularly bad--Andre Vasquez, Yang-Sook Choe, and Allegra Reynolds. At the end of the quarter, students and workers in solidarity delivered letters to these managers, demanding an end to the abuse and to policies by facility services that damage the health and safety of workers. We promised we would protest if they did not these demands; we are fulfilling this promise! These managers' actions are not only a clear violation of university workplace protocol, but are also violations of the American Disabilities Act, and Labor and Industries standards. It is clear that these managers have long and dirty records!

Their abuses include:

* ongoing police harassment, including daily visits to workplaces by the UWPD, to inquire about workers meeting with one another and with activists.

* ignoring doctors notes for workers with disabilities seeking accommodation

* endangering peoples' health and safety by neglecting safety

standards and refusing to provide the required safety equipment

* Harassing and retaliating against workers who organize for their rights

* Publicly humiliating immigrant workers and piling on inhuman amounts of extra work

UW custodians have been abused and retaliated against to a frightening

degree, and as a result, suffer a large number of workplace injuries.

This is also taking an emotional toll on workers, who are increasingly

suffering from depression and anxiety.

Custodians at the University of Washington demand the following:

1. End Special Project Crews

workers on project crews are exposed to unsafe amounts of

chemicals and repeatedly forced to do the most difficult tasks.

2. On swing shift, end extended runs

extended runs have drastically increased custodians’ workloads.

3. End all harassment and retaliation

Workers have been singled out for extra work or managerial

abuse because they meet with each other during their break times.

4. End ‘Team Cleaning’ immediately

‘team cleaning’ is a euphemism for a method tn force workers to

speed up their work pace.

We hope to see you there. Please contact Democracy Insurgent at d.insurg@gmail.com for more information.

Open Letter to Abusive Managers!

2009-12-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

Dear supporters, workers in solidarity, and students,

Last Spring, workers came out in full force to protest shift changes, unfair treatment by management, team cleaning, and overall speed-ups and abuse justified by the state-wide budget cuts (see video here). Since then, Democracy Insurgent has been working closely with a number of custodians at UW campus. Workers have been organizing against abuse, and also organized a memorial that many of you attended for In Soo Chun, a Korean co-worker who self-immolated on campus. Workers spoke out against the abuse that he faced in the work place, and that they face as well.

Now, workers are being abused and retaliated against to a frightening degree, and suffer a large number of workplace injuries. This is also taking an emotional toll on workers, who are increasingly suffering from depression and anxiety. Management has used a variety of tactics of control, even using the police; workers are told to look a certain way, and act a certain way. Because of this abuse, Democracy Insurgent, with the UW National Lawyers Guild, sent the following letters to three of the most abusive managers on UW campus, as an act of solidarity. If our demands are not met by January 4th, we will have actions the beginning of the quarter to continue to pressure management.

Below, please see the letter to Andre Vasquez, custodial manager for the swing shift. We have forwarded his letter to the Board of Regents as well. Please publicize widely. Attached are letters to the two other managers, Allegra Reynolds, and Yang-Sook Choe.

----------------------------------------------

17 December 2009

This is an open letter to Andre Vasquez:

As such, you should be aware that copies of this are being distributed widely.

We, members of the campus organization Democracy Insurgent and the UW National Lawyers Guild, are in regular contact with custodians on the day and swing shifts. It has come to our attention that you have been particularly abusive to the workers who you manage on your shift. You disregard doctors’ notes by workers with disabilities seeking simple accommodations; you endanger people’s health and safety by neglecting safety standards and refusing to provide the required safety equipment; you harass and retaliate against workers for organizing; you humiliate immigrant workers in public and you pile on inhuman amounts of work. There has been a rash of workplace injuries and illnesses as a result of these abuses. This has gone on too long.

Your actions are not only a clear violation of university workplace protocol, they are also a violation of the American Disabilities Act, and Labor and Industries standards. We are aware that many custodians have filed complaints against your department with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as well. You know, as we do, that you have a long and dirty record.

You may think that you have intimidated enough workers into silence so that they cannot organize collective workplace resistance to your abuses. But keep in mind that students and community members at the University of Washington will no longer stand by while you oppress workers like this. We will speak out against your abuses and air your dirty laundry. You are not our managers and you cannot threaten us or fire us. We are not union officials so you can’t use our actions as an excuse to bust the union. We are exercising our freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and you cannot stop us. We will not stay silent and passive when you exploit our friends. Just as workers have been in solidarity with us when our tuition was raised and programs cut. In California, we saw the power of such solidarity. An injury to one is an injury to all.

We demand the following:

1) End Special Project Crews
a. The workers on project crews are exposed to unsafe amounts of chemicals, such as Bravo, without the proper safety equipment. They are forced to do the most difficult and physically exhausting tasks over and over until their bodies break down.
2) On swing shift, end extended runs
a. These extended runs have, in some cases, doubled custodians’ workloads, forcing them to work at an extremely fast pace that increases the risk of accidents and injuries.
3) End all harassment and retaliation
a. Workers have been singled out for extra work or managerial abuse because they meet with each other during their break times.
b. Workers are treated with disrespect, including during verbal exchanges.
c. For example, one swing shift worker informed us that ever since being placed on project crew, after the extended runs began three weeks ago, you, Andre, have refused to give her her own closet to change in and place her items. Instead you offered the custodian your office in which to store her belongings and make her change in the bathroom. This is wholly inappropriate. With extra custodian closets available, there is no reason that she should store her personal belongings in YOUR office or change in the bathroom. This is clearly a form of harassment. Additionally, she has a doctor’s note that explains that she is unable to do certain kinds of work. You have blatantly ignored her doctor’s medical instructions. This is a practice of yours that has happened far too often with custodians who have medical conditions. Furthermore, as a result of this harassment, this custodian is under extreme emotional duress and unable to sleep.
4) End Team Cleaning immediately
a. Workers know how to best clean their areas, and they are almost unanimously opposed to team cleaning. While the title sounds nice, we recognize that team cleaning is really a method to force workers to speed up.

If these demands are not met by January 4, 2010, students will protest you and your abusive practices during the first week of classes. We will make full use of our right to free speech and our freedom of assembly. Your shameful violation of workers' rights will be made known and we will demand a public response from you explaining your actions. You cannot hide behind job titles and arbitrary rules.

Do not think that you can single out and retaliate against custodians while we are away on break. Our organization is not going away. We are in regular conversation with workers.

Custodial Services, we, the students, workers, and community are watching you. We look forward to positive changes in your treatment of immigrant workers.

Signed,

Democracy Insurgent
d.insurg@gmail.com

UW National Lawyers Guild

Their Privatization, Our Exploitation!

2009-12-14T09:05:00.000-08:00

Please see the below communiqué put out by Democracy Insurgent, responding to President Emmert's letter to the student body about increased privatization.

Also, a new coalition is forming in opposition to this privatization. Come check out our last meeting of the quarter on Thursday 12/17 at 6 PM, Parnassus CAFE, UW! This is an open meeting. Parnassus is located in the basement of the art building.

Their Privatization, Our Exploitation

A response to UW President Mark Emmert’s

“ Addressing the Latest State Revenue Shortfall”

On Thursday, November 19th 2009, the University of Washington

community received an email from University of Washington President Mark

Emmert, concerning continuing budget cuts from Olympia. His email was titled

“Addressing the Latest State Revenue Shortfall,” but it could just as well have

been titled: “Justification for the Long Term Privatization at the University of

Washington.” In the letter, President Emmert acknowledged that the 26% cut in

the University’s operating budget, as well as the 28% tuition increase over 2

years, were “trends” that were “very likely to continue.” Given that the revenue

generated from our tuition contributes more to the operation of our university

than state investment, President Emmert offered sage advice to help the

university acclimate to long-term privatization.

His advice, laden with bureaucratic language to mystify and distract

readers, is meant to be read as a success story of clever budgeting at this “turning

point” for the University. However, his words are as illuminating as they are

dishonest. His claims that the university is “among the most efficient in the

nation in producing bachelor’s degree graduates despite being among the most

poorly funded” ignores some ugly realities. Those that ensure this efficiency—

overstretched TAs, graders, visiting lecturers, and other members of the

University’s academic support staff—continue to face layoffs, speed up in the

work place, and pressure to assess students based upon quantity in the class

rather than quality of work. Increasingly so, UW’s graduation rate is dependent

upon the work of its graduate student labor, much of which goes

unpaid/underpaid. Graduate student workers are expected to undertake

unrealistic workloads, turning us into overworked, underpaid cogs in a factory

that chugs out future laborers, who pay more for less of an education. Yet, this

exploitation is disguised in euphemisms, what Emmert calls “efficiency” and

“expedience.”

His advice also ignores the serious burden that increased tuition is causing

for those of us who work our way through school as first generation college

students. Especially for many students of color, higher tuition means we will have

even less access to higher education which means we will have even less of a

chance at getting living wage jobs in this cutthroat economy. After all, we are

often the last ones hired and the first ones fired. But these cuts affect anyone

who didn’t have our education handed to us on a silver platter: if Emmert has his

way many of us will become LAST generation college students. If we do slog our

way through an increasingly expensive UW education we will be strapped for the

rest of our lives with subprime student loans.

Privatization means that over the long haul “unprofitable” programs like

ethnic studies, gender studies, and disabilities studies could face further cuts. Our

peoples fought hard and occupied buildings to demand these programs at UW

and we won’t sit by idly if taking them away ends up to be part of Emmert’s

definition of efficiency. We will not sit idly by as UW becomes even more elite,

even more whitewashed, and even more cut off from our communities and

neighborhoods.

Further, Emmert seeks “greater management and business process

flexibility:” He writes that, “there are numerous examples of millions of dollars

that can be saved in operating our University if we had more flexibility over

business processes and had to spend less money complying with a number of

regulations in the way we operate basic management systems and processes.”

This erosion of “basic management systems,” which in turn decreases levels of

accountability the University is mandated to adhere to, has also fed into the

continuing oppression of workers at the university within their workplaces.

Privatization of labor and union busting have been features of the University of

Washington workplace, taking the form of layoffs, shift elimination, speed up and

site reassignment. This is visible in the Facilities department of UW. Since last

year, members of UW’s custodial and trades staff, many of whom are immigrants

and people of color, have faced discrimination and retaliation in the workplace for

attempting to organize around issues of workplace safety and job security. These

racist attacks on workers go unhindered at the hands of Facilities management

and unnoticed under the auspices of the University administration. It comes as

no surprise, then, that Emmert seeks greater flexibility in turning the school into a

private corporation and further oppresses UW’s labor in an effort to streamline

this operation.

While some may read Emmert’s email as prudent advice for bleak

recessionary times, we read it as justification for the privatization of the

university, and continued exploitation of students and workers. The injustice of

these decisions are made more blatant when we realize that none of the top

administrators have taken pay cuts. While President Emmert enjoys his million

dollar paycheck, and mansion that is paid for by the UW community, those who

are most lowly paid, such as custodians, are laid off and forced to take on extra

work. It is unbelievable that these drastic decisions are made by the President,

along with the Board of Regents, neither of whom are elected by the UW

community or the people of Washington. We have long called for UW to be a

truly public and democratic institution—a resource and gathering center for the

entire city and state, an educational and intellectual community run by and for

those who have built this university through our labor, where members of this

community democratically decide the policies of the University. We refuse to let

individuals who cannot afford the criminal cost of education, including students of

color and immigrants, be denied entry into our institution, even as their parents

and siblings continue to slave as workers in its halls. We see Emmert’s latest

communication as a blueprint for preplanned and sustained privatization, and it

sickens us.

But we have not faced these injustices without a fight. Students, workers

and community members have directly combated privatization at UW. On May

28th and June 11th 2009, we rallied to ensure that swing shift positions slated for

elimination were retained for custodial staff facing layoffs and speed up. On

October 30, 2009, custodians and students successfully held a memorial for

former custodian In Soo Chun. His self-immolation in front of Emmert’s office last

year was likely politically motivated but the university administration and media

dismissed it as simply a product of mental illness. TAs and other graduate student

labor have been organizing within our ranks, finding other graduate workers who

have tired of the isolation and low pay that menial intellectual labor prescribes.

Meanwhile, we have begun to link up with the larger Seattle community to

demand jobs for unemployed youth of color in the working class neighborhoods

where some of us live, work, or search in vain for work.

We are not alone. On September 24 and November 18, students, faculty

and staff at University of California campuses went on strike against a proposed

32% tuition hike. Images of students being arrested and beaten by police as they

spoke out against tuition hikes and educational budget cuts horrified the public,

yet inspired other fighters on similarly affected campuses. TAs at the University of

Illinois in Urbana Champaign followed the next day, occupying buildings and

holding massive rallies in a two-day strike fighting for tuition waivers that their

administration tried to eliminate. On October 22, students at the University of

Vienna occupied their university, calling for an end to state disinvestment in

public education and later rallying at the US Embassy in solidarity with the

California students. The reality of the situation is that the struggle against

privatization is both national and global, and the UW must join the fight.

We need to collectively build a movement that brings together student and

workers struggles. Democracy Insurgent continues to organize in multiple labor

sectors on campus, learning from struggles taking place around the world today.

We are inspired by University of California, as we are by the Third World student

strikes and anti-war movement of the past. We are growing larger, stronger, and

smarter each coming day. Yet, we cannot do it alone. As the year continues, it is

necessary that other members of the community stand up against these budget

cuts, against union busting, and against the privatization of public education. We

must all come together to demand a truly public university.

Democracy Insurgent is a majority people of color activist group animated by principles of

democracy, anti-racism, anti-imperialism, queer liberation, Third World Feminism, and workers'

power. We are based in the University of Washington.

Find out more about our actions against budget cuts at:

www.nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com, , www.democracyinsurgent.org

Contact us at d.insurg@gmail.com

PUBLIC MEETING Thursday 6 PM 12/10--Suzzalo

2009-12-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

Dear all, please come to another meeting this Thursday at 6 PM to follow up from last week! Also, folks involved in the meetings will be having another round of Red Square Displays Wednesday Dec. 9 from 10AM-1PM! Hope to see you all there! Meeting is called by DI, but this is not a DI meeting; but rather a public meeting on the budget cuts! E-mail d.insurg@gmail.com for more information.

Public Meeting on upcoming Budget cuts at UW

Dec 10th Thurs

Suzzallo Cafe

6pm

The Governor just announced that there is currently a $2.6 billion revenue shortfall. More cuts are coming our way when we return from the break.

This economic crisis has served as an excuse for restructuring and privatizing the university. But who's crisis is it? The same story goes: the most oppressed are affected, while those at the top continue to make big fat paychecks. This means lay offs, speed up and extra work for workers, and tuition hikes and reduced support services for students.

How to build a movement at UW, in Seattle that brings together student, workers and community struggles?

How to combine struggles against racism, heterosexism, patriarchy and ablism in our organizing? No divide and conquer!

This is a broad base meeting involving other groups and individuals.

**We know its nearing finals period, so it will be a short meeting!

Check out our zine on budget cuts at www.democracyinsurgent.org

For updates on our actions: www.nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com

Pamphlet: WHOSE BUDGET CUTS?

2009-12-01T23:29:00.000-08:00

Pamphlet with facts and figure on the budget cuts--who they affect and who they don't! See a full display tomorrow from 10 AM-2PM on Red Square with more details...

Meeting Dec. 2nd 7 PM, Suzzalo Cafe

2009-11-25T08:51:00.001-08:00

Informal discussion on

University of California Struggles and Budget cuts at UW

Dec 2nd, Wed

Suzallo Cafe

7pm

Many of us have been excited to see what's been going on in California. Students, workers and community members came together to fight the 32% fee hike and layoffs of workers. In UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSC there have been occupations and protests. The recent events in UC give all us around the nation, a glimpse of how powerful we are when we come together. There are many questions that lie ahead: Will the University of California struggles spread to other campuses in the country? How are administrators, and management going to respond to this? What are the direct action tactics that organizers have used and how can we learn from them? Will these fights be generalized to other workplaces in California, and in the country?

At UW, budget cuts are also happening. The economic crisis has served as an excuse for restructuring and privatizing the university. But who's crisis is it? The same story goes: the most oppressed are affected, while those at the top continue to make big fat paychecks. This means lay offs, speed up and extra work for workers, and tuition hikes and reduced support services for students.

On Wed Dec 2nd at 7pm, members of Democracy Insurgent would like to discuss with all interested folks, how we can work together to organize a more powerful and united front against the privatization efforts of the university.

**We know its nearing finals period, so it will be a short meeting!

Some links on the UC struggles:

Pictures/Articles:

NY Times and more

Video –

Check out our zine on budget cuts at www.democracyinsurgent.org

For updates on our actions: www.nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com

Update on CIA Protest

2009-11-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

As you all may know, last Wednesday Nov. 4th, the CIA was scheduled to hold a recruitment session in Smith Hall on campus. Along with For a Democratic University (FaDU), International Socialist Organization (ISO), and Campus Anti-war Network (CAN), DI called a picket in protest of their presence at UW. We started small but soon drew a few more people, including graduate students and professors; enough to make a visible and vocal showing. Apparently, our efforts were successful because the recruiting session never actually occurred. The CIA agent who was supposed to conduct the session never showed up to the room! Count it as a victory. Together, we made it clear to the university and to the CIA recruiters that they will not be able to use our school as a recruiting ground for U.S. Empire - not without opposition, at least.

The next day, however, we received an email from Phil Hunt, an advisor in the Student Activities Office, saying we needed to report for a meeting with him regarding an "incident." It's unfortunate that basic acts of protest and free speech draw reprisals from the authoritie at a public institution that posits itself as a beacon of free thought. We were accused of disrupting the educational mission of the university. This begs an obvious question: Since the CIA has a long history of violently suppressing democratic movements throughout the Third World, and since CIA actions have contributed to the bombing of civilians and universities in other countries, what constitutes disrupting learning: a five minute picket, or bombs exploding on top of your school's roof?

While DI is not currently involved in a longterm anti-CIA campaign, this picket was an extension of the work we did last year opposing the CIA on campus as part of the Demilitarize UW Coalition. Here is a link to the Coalition's proposal to end the INSER program and kick the CIA off campus, which we put out last year. Please take a look at it for extensive details on the brutal, murderous history of the CIA and how exactly it is connected to UW.

We also recognize that the CIA, U.S. imperialism, and labor struggles are not completely separate. CIA recruiting is very much tied to student labor and undergraduates, many of whom are so desperate for the declining number of jobs, that militarization and the job of torture seems like the only option. This is part of how the militarization of education - in an econmic crisis like this, functions. While the rich get richer, the poor and working class are funnelled either into prisons or the military, and sometimes one and then the other. This is always more true for people of color and immigrants, who are made systematically more poor, and tracked into prison and potential deportation, with a militarized job as the only way out.

For these reasons, we see the CIA on campus as not only an issue of U.S. Empire, but one of civil rights, access to education, and unemployment.

Thanks to all for your continued support. Stay tuned for future actions, events, and updates.

Democracy Insurgent

For a Democratic University!: Granito De Arena Film Screening 11/12 4:30 PM

2009-11-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

By For a Democratic University; Grad students against privitization

Granito de Arena (Grain of Sand)
a film about privatization and the struggle for democratic education in Mexico
Nov. 12 4:30 PM
Loew Hall 102

Please join For a Democratic University for a showing of this film that focuses on labor struggles in schools in Mexico, and how students and teachers fought together against oppression and privatization for democratic schools. Stay for a discussion with FaDU about how we can understand privatization, labor struggles, and education at the University of Washington, now.

FaDU is an independent labor group of TAs, RAs, and other graduate students, fighting against privatization, budget cuts that affect women, people of color, queer folks, immigrants, and folks with disabilities, and for true academic freedom and a democratic university for students and workers in the UW community.

Synopsis from website:

For over 20 years, global economic forces have been
dismantling public education in Mexico,
but always in the constant shadow of popular resistance...

Granito de Arena is the story of that resistance –

the story of hundreds of thousands of public schoolteachers

whose grassroots, non-violent movement took Mexico by surprise, and who have endured brutal repression in their 25-year struggle
for social and economic justice in Mexico's public schools.

Completed in 2005, Granito de Arena provides context and background to the unprecedented popular uprising that exploded in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 2006. It serves as an excellent prequel to Corrugated Film's latest release, Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad.

Award-winning Seattle filmmaker, Jill Freidberg, spent two years in southern Mexico documenting the efforts of over 100,000 teachers, parents, and students fighting to defend the country’s public education system from the devastating impacts of economic globalization.

Freidberg combines footage of strikes and direct actions with 25 years worth of never-before-seen archival images to deliver a compelling and unsettling story of

resistance, repression, commitment, and solidarity.

PROTEST CIA RECRUITMENT- NOV 4, 3:15 SMITH HALL

2009-11-04T13:46:00.000-08:00

By For a Democratic University, Democracy Insurgent, sponsored by ISO and Campus anti-War network:

In Soo Chun Memorial; Press

2009-10-31T14:46:00.000-07:00

By IWSJ; IWSJ.seattle@gmail.com

Yesterday at 11 AM, literally dozens of people filled Red Square on UW's campus to mourn the loss of In Soo Chun. Click below for our press release, and an article on the event from the Seattle Weekly. If anyone finds more press coverage, please send to IWSJ. Also see pictures, care of our friend Aditya, below. Video will be posted soon as well. Thanks to all who came out.

Seattle Weekly

IWSJ Press Release

Salvador Castillo speaking:

A shot of the crowd on Red Square
Mary and Jane Mee holding the IWSJ banner. Matt, of Democracy Insurgent, speaks.

Some of In Soo Chun's co-workers, following the memorial.

Memorial for In Soo Chun - October 30th

2009-10-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

One year ago, former UW custodian, In Soo Chun self-immolated in Red Square at the University of Washington. His death raised a lot of questions that have gone unanswered. Former co-workers, students, and community members will gather on the 30th to remember him, one year after his death, and to demand an independent investigation into the events leading up to his death.

Sponsored by International Workers and Students for Justice (IWSJ)

Panel! We are All Workers!

2009-10-13T07:59:00.001-07:00

Sponsored by International Workers and Students for Justice, For a Democratic University, and Democracy Insurgent

IWSJ Demands Flyer!

2009-10-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

By International Workers and Students for Justice

Last week custodians, students, and other Seattle community members handed out hundreds of informational flyers to people on UW campus! This flyer lays out the demands of IWSJ.

Who is DI? Event This THURSDAY 10/8 at 7 PM!

2009-10-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

PICKETS 1st DAY: Welcome Students!

2009-09-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, September 30th, two pickets will be held to welcome students back to school, and back to unsafe classrooms, labs, and workplaces! The pickets are called by a new organization called International Workers and Students for Justice, made up of custodians, students, and Seattle community members. Though small now, it hopes to grow as the year goes on! The name for this group was created by custodians, who wanted to emphasize the need for workers and students to fight together, and also the fact that many custodians are immigrants, and many students facing higher tuition are international students, or 1st generation from immigrant families! Come to their first event of the year, and support students, custodians, and trades!

Support letter to UCSC from Democracy Insurgent

2009-09-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

See occupyca.wordpress.com and edu-factory.org for up-to-date information on the UC walk-outs and UC Santa Cruz occupation.

Letter of Support from Democracy Insurgent at University of Washington

To occupiers of UCSC and participants in the walk-outs and other actions in the UC schools:
We at the University of Washington stand in solidarity with you. We are custodians, tradesfolks, graduate students, unemployed youth, undergrads, recent graduates, staff; we are women, people of color, immigrants, persons with disabilities, and queer folks.

As we work to build a strong movement against abuse and retaliation to working folks here at the UW, we draw enormous strength from your actions. At UW, we who have been affected by targeted abuses which have been legitimized by by budget cuts and we upon whose backs the rich are getting richer in this time of economic "crisis", are fighting back with a vengeance. We know we are getting to something because we have been targeted by the administration, who have used Police to target activists, workers, and journalists in order to attempt to silence us as they continue to cover up racist and patriarchal attacks. We will not be silenced; we will only raise our voices.

Your actions have shown that must stand up to a system that uses crisis to push forward oppression; that must unite for common goals across job descriptions and divisions the University enforces us to keep us docile; that we must refuse to participate in the oppression of the state and of the University.

We support you as you fight, and stand with you in your actions.

In struggle,

Democracy Insurgent
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
d.insurg@gmail.com
nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com

Picket Last Wednesday, Real Change Article

2009-09-23T00:09:00.000-07:00

By Democracy Insurgent; d.insurg@gmail.com

Last Wednesday's picket was a success, with mix of students, custodians, and trades in support. We held the picket down on red square, with call and response chants about retaliation, Mark Emmert's new perks, and TA, student, and worker demands. We also got to see the Real Change article by Cyd Gillis on the arrests, featuring a great picture of Salvador Castillo on the cover! If you live in Seattle, we encourage you to buy a copy.

Please stay tuned for an announcement about 1st day of school picket against unsafe schools, dorms, and workplaces.

See below for a brief speech given before the picket last week:

"Hello everyone, and thank you for coming out.

We are here today to picket against retaliation against workers for organizing to fight for their rights! Last Spring, the University announced budget cuts that would increase class sizes, raise tuition, cut staff positions, cut departments, and target custodians, students of color, women, and queer folks. In May and June, literally hundreds of people in the UW community gathered to rally against these cuts. Since this time, custodians, students, and others have faced enormous retaliation from management. This retaliation has come in the form of extra work, ignoring workplace injurings, isolating workers, contracting out labor in an effort to union bust, and, as of a few weeks ago, the mobilization of the UWPD to arrest students journalists who were meeting with their friends, custodians, during their break from work. The following work day, magaers and police came together during custodians breaktime, in the gathering public space of their building, to harras and intimidate them against speaking with one another. We will not stand for this abuse, and we will not concede our rights either!

Today we draw strength from other movements here and around the country We draw strngth from In Soo Chun who sacrificed his life to bring attention to abuses in the custodial department at UW, whose death and the circumstances around it have been covered up by UW. We draw strngth from the teachers in Kent, who said "we will not conced our lives and our students lives for higher wage, nor in the threat of legal action." Those teachers decided to strike for smaller class sizes, and when the district said they would fine them 200/a day, a large portion of their small teachers' salary, 74 % of teachers decided to face retaliation and stay on strike! These teachers won a victory yesterday. We draw strength from the walkouts at UC by faculty who refse to accept abuses to themselvs, students, and workers, occupations at New School and other schools, protests in Detroit led by students and workers. We are also building a new movement that sees the struggles of students and workers as inherently tied to one another. We cannot win without one another. We now picket together in front of these administrators to say ....UW MUST RECOGNIZE/WORKERS' RIGHT TO ORGANIZE!..."

Statement from D.I. on recent arrests

2009-09-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

About 2 weeks ago, 2 members of Democracy Insurgent (D.I). were arrested by the UW Police for meeting with the custodians at Health Sciences building during their breaktime. They were there in the capacity of journalists, interviewing workers about workplace abuses for an upcoming Zine we are collaborating on. We have reason to believe that the arrests were politically targeted because we were taken right when the breaktime ended, and the police knew exactly who we were when they arrested us. It is also an uncanny coincidence that the selective enforcement of the building policy took place right on the day that we distributed a press release publicizing the suicide of former UW custodian, In Soo Chun. In Soo Chun had self immolated himself on Red Square in Oct last year and his former co-workers were planning to organize a rally in his memory.

The first thing the police officer said when she saw us, was to call us "terrorists." It is not a coincidence that the 2 activists were women of color.

Most importantly, we see the arrests as an attempt by a desperate and guilty management to scare immigrant custodians from organizing. The next workday after the arrest, UWPD and Custodial Services managers were harassing workers who were trying to meet during their break time. It is clear to us that the arrest of our members is tied closely to the continual intimidation and harassment of immigrant custodians who are organizing against speed up and extra work.

We are having a picket tomorrow at 1:30pm on Red Square to raise awareness of the issues (see flyer below). We know that many of you may not be on campus during this time. For those of you who are, we hope you can join us. Regardless, we hope to be organizing more with you when you return from the summer break.

Picket Wednesday September 16th! Stop RETALIATION!

2009-09-10T08:15:00.000-07:00

by Democracy Insurgent; d.insurg@gmail.com

Over the last several weeks, the University has stepped up its attacks on people working against budget cuts and for their jobs. While custodians have continued to meet with students and with eachother, management is increasingly creative, including scheduling meetings during planned rallies, putting workers on "administrative leave" in preparation for firings, isolated custodians who are strong organizers alone in far off buildings, and most recently, using police force to intimidate both students and workers!

We will not stand for this kind of abuse! Come out Wednesday September 16th for compact picket in front of Gerberding Hall, to show UW that this abuse will not stand. This will be a continuation of events from the 9th, and will be building torwards more large actions in the fall! Please join us at 1:30 PM, and let us know if you or your campus/community group wants to get involved in future actions!

PRESS RELEASE: RALLY SEPT 9TH!

2009-09-09T09:09:00.000-07:00

Press Contacts

d.insurg@gmail.com

Press Release
September 9, 2009

Workers and Students Stand Up Together; Remember Korean Worker

A Group of Students, Trades, Young Workers, and Custodians Fight Against Retaliation and Abuse, and Remember In Soo Chun

After an entire summer of working together, custodians and their families, skilled trades, and students gathered together in Red Square to speak out against speed-ups, excessive work, unsafe conditions, union busting, and management retaliation. Some held signs and spoke about workplace injuries and disrespectful managers, while others held photos of In Soo Chun, a former custodian who self-immolated in front Gerberding Hall, where the President's office is located. Many custodians see their current situation as a continuation of the oppressive environment that In Soo Chun faced prior to his death. Text on the signs echoed this by asking "Who killed In Soo Chun?" and "Gene Woodard, do you remember In Soo Chun."

President Mark Emmert claims to use a "market-driven model" to implement budget cuts, which many claim has put the health and safety of workers at risk. Since January, custodians have been given extra work and much larger areas to clean, trades have taken on more jobs than they feel they can perform safely, and TAs' class sizes have increased. For example, TAs in the social sciences are now teaching 25-40 more students per quarter than in the past; UW tower now only has 5 custodians to clean all 22 floors; and one painter is responsible for 63 buildings. The speed ups and overwhelming workloads have led to a rise in workplace injuries. In addition to concerns about their own safety, some custodians worry that since they have been forced switch to spot cleaning, there is a danger that an outbreak of swine flue could erupt at UW; just yesterday there was such an outbreak at Washington State University. Facing such dire situations, workers have been fighting to improve their conditions. Last May and June, large rallies with hundreds of people drew the attention of the entire city.

But since the rallies last spring, custodians, students, and trades are all feeling the effects of retaliation. Workers say they have been increasingly harassed by managers, who they feel are trying to intimidate them and keep them from fighting for their rights. When workers are ill or have an injury that doesn't allow them to do certain jobs, managers often do not abide by the doctors' notes, saying that custodians must continue doing unsafe work, or face consequences. Gizachew Kassa has said of the harassment that "managers treat us with no respect, like we're not people. If they want to say something, they do not say it privately, they say it in front of everyone. It is embarrassing and unnecessary." Jamie Miller, a painter at the university, is upset that the University is not their contract negotiating fairly. "They keep stalling the contract negotiations. Meanwhile they are contracting out projects to non-union people. This is clearly an attempt to bust the union," Miller said.

Approximately 40-50 people came to the rally, more than many expected, and it lasted half an hour. The brevity of the rally was due in large part to one manager of day-shift custodians scheduling a last minute mandatory meeting at 11:15, in the middle of the 11 AM rally. Wen Liu, a recent UW graduate who helped organize the rally, said, "The fact that this many custodians and trades came out in the face of really nasty and increased harassment is a big deal. This is only the first in a series of actions this fall, where the people of the university are going to confront these abusive and exploitative practices. We expect huge momentum when students return in the fall and see unsafe classrooms, overstuffed quiz sections, and fewer support staff like tutors and advisors; all of which they are paying 14% more tuition for."

The rally was unique because several different sectors of campus came together to support each other and express their collective outrage. Jacob Greenberg, a teaching assistant in History, identified the struggles as interconnected: "We are not just fighting for the other workers on campus. We are also workers, and this 'private model' is making us work inhumane hours and provide a much poorer quality experience for undergraduates." Young workers who attended the rally believe that if they don't fight alongside the custodians, trades, and TAs, then working conditions will only worsen until they will be forced to "work 60 hour weeks, with no benefits or protections against managerial abuse," said Ian Morgan, a school teacher. And when asked why the trades came out to the rally, Miller explained: "We were facing a lot of similar problems, and when we saw the custodians stand up and fight, we knew we had to fight along with them."

SEPTEMBER 9th RALLY PRESS

2009-09-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

Press Advisory Excerpt for Rally September 9th!

WHAT: Last October, a Korean school teacher, academic, and former UW Custodian In Soo Chun took his own life by self-immolating on UW Red Square in front of President Mark Emmert's office in protest to his firing and poor treatment during his 4 years at the University. Since last spring, workers have been fighting against lay offs, shift changes, and safety concerns. On September 9th, In Soo Chun's fellow workers are rallying partially in response to retaliation and abuses by management. In addition to direct retaliation, workers face extra workloads, unsafe working environments due to speed-ups and new cleaning chemicals, and the threat of more firings and lay-offs. Meanwhile, President Emmert, who makes over $906,000/year is getting new perks this fall. Custodians have previously fought alongside students over these cuts; this upcoming rally marks the first in this series of actions slated for this year to include trades folks as well. Both trades and custodians are fighting against the negative impacts of privatization including contracted out work, union busting, speed ups, team or "gang" cleaning, extra runs, and most significantly, unsafe working environments that have led to several injuries and more potential injuries among workers. Additionally, the union contract is currently being negotiated under a veil of secrecy. Both custodians and trades' workers demand the university negotiate in good faith and quit stalling. Students, teaching assistants, custodians, trades, and other workers and unemployed youth will be marching during the dayshift custodians' break at 11 AM from Red Square to the office of Charles Kennedy, assistant director of Facilities Services, near the Husky Union Building.

WHEN: September 9th, 2009 at 11 AM

WHERE: Start in Red Square for a speak out and rally; march to Charles Kennedy's Office, Facilities Services (Physical Plant Office Building; behind the HUB, adjacent to Hall Health)

CALL TO SUBMISSIONS! ZINE THIS FALL!

2009-09-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

Call for Submissions
Real Dawgs Fight Back: Workers take back the U

Submissions by September 12th, 2009. Between 300-750 words; alternatively, other formats (such as maps, diagrams, interviews, and pictures) 1/2 page or 1 full page in size. Submit to d.insurg@gmail.com

Are you a worker? UW employee? Student? Teacher? Parent? Partner? Taking out loans? Seattle or Western Washington resident? Housed? Un-housed?

Our VISION for this ZINE is to present the experiences of those who have ties to the University of Washington, broadly, and are affected by uneven and oppressively implemented budget cuts. The U is supposed to be THE public university of the STATE OF WASHINGTON but the UW administration wants to use the economic crisis as an excuse to turn it into a more exclusive, oppressive, and elite campus. Alternately, this publication will help us re-envision the struggle of the University as a public resource through the struggle of all working folks.

Therefore, we seek submissions about but not limited to the topics of: safety concerns and management retaliation as a result of contracting out/privatization; layoffs, speed-ups, firing; increased class size, change in pedagogy/curriculum; cutting of programs or resources; change in workplace politics/oppression; UPASS/Parking; family burdens; implications of globalization for education and voices from international students; hope, resistance, alternatives! We stand in solidarity with workers across the world, and invite submissions linking UW to other parts of the world that are directly affected by capital, labor, and military actions in the US/Seattle!

We are framing this call as "we are all workers" to emphasize the fact that the university is not separate from the rest of society. Workers and students are told that they are different from one another; in reality, we are all laboring for the University; but the money and resources gained from our efforts are being kept from us. Now more than ever, we need to ask, this is a University by whom for whom? We reject the idea that workers can only be oppressed victims. We find strength in the notion that we are all workers, because we are ultimately the ones who can take control of our labor and relationships and use them to build a better university and a better society than our managers envision. By acknowledging that we are all workers, we can start to understand how we need to work together as staff, students, community members, and families to take control of our own lives, as they are affected by the work we do in the University. We are all impacted by uneven budget cuts that are framed in terms of inevitability caused by the economic crisis, in order to keep us from fighting back. We want to show that there is a lot at stake when we are forced to "suck it up" as workers and as students. We furthermore reject the idea that we are only students or only workers. We are all students and workers at the same time. We are either accumulating debt in school, laboring in class and at a work-study or outside-the-U job, employees of the U (staff, TA, RA, etc), or unemployed workers looking for education and work. Those who work and don't attend classes here should have access to those classes. Many UW employees, from custodians to painters, are students of society, mastering not only our own jobs and trades but also raising and studying broader questions about the economy, politics, and values of the world we live in. We are students especially as we get organized to fight for more control over our jobs. We have a lot to learn from each other.

This is not a new vision. It has been tried, and battles have been waged by our predecessors in the 1960s, and before. Those demanded access to education for women and people of color. The struggle for black studies and ethnic studies in colleges around the country, the struggles for admission of people of color into formerly all white institutions was a victory that is constantly under attack. WE refuse to stand by and watch these hard won struggles be rolled back. We demand the same as previous struggles, AND MORE!

This understanding demands that we recognize that the global economic crisis we are facing is not because of some accident, but because of unsustainable and violent decisions made by the state and corporations, working together to increase profits at the cost of the lives and livelihoods of everyday people. In particular, this crisis disproportionately affects women, queer folks, folks of color, and folks with disabilities. The University is no exception; budget cuts disproportionally fall on our backs while squeezing profit out of us through a process of privatization that raises tuition, abuses workers with retaliation and unsafe work environments, causes work-wide speed-ups, and further marginalizes folks who built the university with their labor. Therefore, we are calling for the UW to be a truly public institution-- a community center for the entire city and region, an educational and intellectual resource controlled by everyday people, and in particular by those most affected by exploitation. We do NOT want UW to be a private university for the elite to reinforce oppression against ordinary people, nor do we want it to function as an arm of the state used to create "good workers" who will be docile and exploited in society during school and after graduation. We pay for the university with taxes, labor, emotional ties, relationships, and commitment. The University IS us, and we demand control!

CHANGE OF DATE: RALLY and SPEAK OUT SEPTEMBER 9th! In support of workers rights at UW!

2009-08-13T05:40:00.000-07:00

NOTICE: CHANGE OF DATE TO SEPTEMBER 9TH!

by Democracy Insurgent; d.insurg@gmail.com

As you know, ABC/custodial workers at UW have been fighting against retaliation and further abuse due to uneven and unfair distribution of budget cuts, that are really just being used as legitimation to make changes to a "private model" that the university has wanted to make for years (see below).

Well, after a summer of organizing, the movement has grown to include student workers and trades-folk as well! As negotiations unfold we are fighting for a strong contract, that will stand up for workers rights! So please come out September 9th, 2009 to support the united front of custodians and trades-folk!

Response to President Emmert

2009-08-04T15:44:00.001-07:00

Below is a response written by an ABC member to president Emmert, linking budget cuts concerns and TC3; this letter was cc'd to Doug Wadden, Norm Arkans, and Phyllis Wise:

Subject: Tent City 3
Date: August 2, 2009

Dear President Emmert,
I am very disappointed to hear of your decision not to allow UW to host Tent City 3, despite the fact that the proposal put forth by Students for Civic Engagement on Homelessness won the support of ASUW, GPSS Senate, and Faculty Senate, and despite numerous actions and events put on both by residents of TC3, students, faculty, and workers at UW, and members of the greater Seattle community

As I am sure you are aware, Tent Cities have been hosted by educational institutions in the past, and have served as an important tool for engaging students with issues of poverty and lack of affordable housing and jobs. As a teacher, graduate student, and advocate for persons facing homelessness and hospitalization, I am extremely upset that UW is missing this opportunity, and that the residents of Tent City will have to find another place to move, despite such vast resources at the University.

It's safe to say that as an educator, my most engaged, successful, and promising students are those who have worked with un-employed or under-employed members of their communities, including people who are un-housed. Additionally, a number of my students come from families that have experienced or are experiencing homelessness. What kind of message does this send to students in these situations about UW's values? Students of color, students with disabilities, and students from non-traditional families are already experiencing economic and social violence due to the budget cuts imposed unevenly on students, workers, and graduate students at UW. For example, many custodial staff facing abuses due to decisions made around the budget have children who go to the University, or would like to. Not allowing Tent City 3 is yet another assault by the elite within the University against those who are not already privileged.

In your letter to SCEH, you said that "To introduce a tent city into this mix would compound the complexity of our daily activity in ways that would further complicate the business of the University,". This language, in addition to comments you have made about using a private model to run the University, is disturbing and in contradiction to comments you have made about the openness of UW, and to the overall mission of public education. UW is a place for learning, not business, and this is a time when the University, as a public institution should be reaching out to community members, city residents, and leaders in public affairs. Instead, the University is further alienating itself; and you, as president, are explicitly and embarrassingly positioning it for an even further ostracization from the rest of the city. If UW is really going to claim not to be an elitist institution, it needs to stop favoring the salaries of you, its president, and other upper level administration through eliminating opportunities for women, people with disabilities, people of color, immigrants, and workers--all of whom have been specifically targeted by budget cuts. Not allowing TC3 to come to UW campus despite enormous student, faculty, and community need is a poor decision for public relations, but also for all who interact with UW, and for UW's future in Seattle.

President Emmert Blocks Tent City 3--Despite overwhelming support!

2009-08-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

After almost a year of work by students, community members, faculty, workers, and activists, President Mark Emmert at UW has unilaterally decided not to allow Tent City 3 to set up at UW, despite overwhelming student, grad student, and faculty support. See the message from Students for Civic Engagement with Homelessness (SCEH) below. Below their message, see a response from an ABC member. We in ABC see this struggle as related to budget cuts in a number of ways. Mark Emmert claimed that part of the reason he decided not to support TC3 was due to other things at the university--again he is acting as if the dire situation of folks at UW is inevitable, when in fact, it is the direct result of decisions made by upper level administrators!
You can visit the SCEH at
http://sites.google.com/site/tc3atuw/; send them a letter of support, and answer their call to tell Emmert what you think of his decision! Feel free to take up some of our points, or lay on your own!

From SCEH, via Facebook:
Subject: The President's Decision

Friends,

Yesterday we received the disappointing news that President Emmert has denied our request that the U.W. host Tent City in spite of the fact the proposal had won the support of the ASUW Senate, GPSS Senate and Faculty Senate.

Before I go on, let me pause to thank all of you for the support you have given with respect to our proposal to host Tent City 3 at the University of Washington. Without you, this proposal never would have been anything more than an idea.

Although this decision has been made for now, we feel that this is far from the end to this debate. Our group, Students for Civic Engagement on Homelessness, is planning numerous events for the fall, where we hope to see you. These include an art exhibit, teach in, and fundraiser for tent city. We hope that through encouraging the already present dialogue surrounding this issue we can continue to keep this subject at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

Please feel free to express your thoughts on the decision by letters to the editor, to Mark Emmert himself, and the list of other administrators whose e-mails are located at the bottom of this page.

Again thank you for your continued support, and please look for further e-mails in the fall regarding the events mentioned above.

On behalf of SCEH,
Hunter Marshall (treasurer)

Mark Emmert - pres@u.washington.edu
Doug Wadden - djwad@u.washington.edu
Norm Arkans - arkans@u.washington.edu
Phyllis Wise - provost@u.washington.edu
--------------------

Demonstration for Shift Extension

2009-07-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

On June 30th, 2009, Custodial Staff and members of Democracy Insurgent! rallied outside of human resources to demand an extension for the shift change of 50 workers from Swingshift to Dayshift. Workers were given incredibly short notice that they would have to start working a different shift on July 6th. DI! shot this video of the action.

Since this rally, the shift changes have indeed happened. Do to the incredibly hard work of custodial staff and allies, 50 swingshift positions were kept, up from an original 8. However, 35 people are still being forced onto dayshift. This means problems with child and family care, conflicts with other jobs, and also speed ups and added work for swing shift staff and disruptive changes in cleaning arrangements for the day shift. Custodians, students, and community members are continuing to fight for fair treatment, equal rights, and in solidarity. Stay posted for more!

Know Your Rights! Flyer

2009-07-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since we have updated--but it is not for lack of activity! ABC Coalition is working hard, even over the summer; in particular, custodial staff have been working extra hard to stop shift changes, stop speed-ups, and continue solidarity across workplaces and shifts. Democracy Insurgent! and ABC Coalition worked with custodial staff to create the Know Your Rights pamphlet below. This pamphlet was created to help custodial staff fight back against management retaliation and unsafe working conditions, and also to let staff know what their protected rights are under federal and state labor law, and their contract.

PETITION--Custodian Demands and Letter to Faculty/Staff

2009-06-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

The following petition was written by ABC after we were informed that faculty and staff were starting to notice a change in custodial service. We drafted this first as an open letter to let faculty and staff (such as program directors) know why these changes were happening. After talking with custodial staff who pushed for a more active engagement, we turned this into a paper and online petition. Faculty can now not only read about changes, but do something about them! Cuts to custodial staff, manager retaliation, and changes in the workplace make the University unsafe for everyone. Please print and sign, particularly if you are faculty, staff, research assistant or teaching assistant at UW, and contact us to know how to get your signed petition to us. You can also sign by e-mailing us your name, date, position/department, e-mail address and phone number at abccoalitionuw@gmail.com. You can also sign this petition online!

STOP THE UNFAIR, UNSAFE, UNSANITARY SPEED UP OF CUSTODIAL SERVICES

Dear faculty, staff, students and other concerned members of the University of Washington:

The University of Washington proposed budget cuts, tuition hikes and layoffs disproportionately affect immigrants, people of color, women, people with disabilities, and queer people. This is clearly illustrated by the U of W using all its weight and power to crush the custodians. What is happening to the custodians today can and will happen to other U of W employees tomorrow unless we stand in solidarity with the custodians now.

You may notice changes in the quality of cleaning services to your buildings, departments, and offices. Trash cans un-emptied, lack of vacuuming, or disruptive cleaning procedures during the middle of the workday. We are writing to let you know why standards have deteriorated, and to ask for your support of the custodians who are battling management to save their jobs and keep the university buildings clean, sanitary and safe for everybody.

The administrators of the University of Washington claim that the current economic crisis has led them to impose the cuts to staff and services. But Custodial Services, like many other U of W departments, have been cutting staff jobs for years all the while increasing the number of highly paid managers, directors, administrators, etc. Following the May 28th open meeting with the Board of Regents the custodian asked why cuts and shift changes were being used to balance the budget instead of paid cuts to the many layers of management they were answered with drastic layoffs, work changes and other forms of retaliation.

+ Lay off of 17 custodial staff which will be implemented in July 2009, this as the U of W continues to add more buildings for the skeleton custodian staff to maintain.

+ Current vacancies not being filled through new hiring thereby pressuring one custodian to do the work of two or three people.

+ Forcing 35 custodians from swing shift to day shift effective July 1st. This will require custodians to race through many jobs they used to have 8 hours to do in the 3 hour time period from 5 AM until 8 AM when classes/ labs open. This impossible work load is a recipe for on the job injuries and accidents.

+Changing the custodian work conditions to what management ironically calls “team-cleaning” which in reality makes the custodial work slower, less effective, more monotonous and difficult.

+Management has ordered the custodians to no longer empty office trash cans.

+Management is implementing the use of water-less cleaning products which exposes workers, students, staff, and faculty to excessive chemicals.

The University of Washington likes to present a liberal and friendly face to the community at large has been petty and ruthless in retaliating against custodians who have spoken up about their work conditions and shifts.

+Custodians have been arbitrarily and in some cases frequently switched to new locations without warning or training.

+Custodians have been switched to different managers; this has required them to walk farther between their punch-in location and their worksites, with some having to walk 15 minutes in the dark. This decreases the time for staff to clean.

All of these changes create a hostile working environment and impose an unsafe and unsustainable speed up of the work-rate, making it more difficult for custodians to do their jobs well. For this reason, custodians continue to demand:

+ No team cleaning
+ No frequent or arbitrary building transfers
+ No management retaliation against workers and shop stewards
+ Keep ALL of the swing shift positions, not just 50.
+ Rehire the 17 people who have been laid off

The issues outlined above affect not just the custodial staff who are losing jobs, missing time with children, and risking safety, but also students’ ability to learn, and teachers’ ability to teach.

Management is justifying all of these changes by appealing to the budget cuts, even if they had been planning some of them well in advance. The budget recently approved by the Board of Regents also proposes a number of other cuts that directly affect students and faculty, including an almost 50% cut to the women’s center, cuts to disability studies, cuts to TA’s and RA’s, non-tenured faculty, and a number of other programs and departments. It also raises student tuition 28 % over two years. Many of these cuts come in batches of under $100,000. Meanwhile, many top level administrators continue to make over $400,000 a year.

Students and staff have been very active in proposing alternatives, and we have developed a public budget that does not include tuition hikes or cuts to students, low and middle-wage staff, or faculty but cuts from the top instead. We ask you now to sign this petition to show your support for the custodians’ demands and for clean and safe buildings at UW. We also encourage you to call Gene Woodard, director of Custodial Services at 206-543-7831 to register your concerns, or email him at: gwoodard@u.washington.edu.

Thank you very much for your time. Anti-Budget Cuts Coalition has meetings every Thursday at 6 PM in 206 Parrington Hall, and would love for you to join us. You can contact us at abccoalitionuw@gmail.com or check online at nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com for more information

Name and Signature

Date Position/Department Email Phone

Seattle Times Article

2009-06-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

The following article was written after Marla Bradeen was retaliated against for communicating with press; as is noted, formal allegations were never made. We have since been informed that she is back to work.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009351619_custodianfolo18m.html

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - Page updated at 08:46 PM

UW employee given leave after talking to media
By Lindsay Toler

Seattle Times staff reporter

The University of Washington has placed an employee on administrative
leave after she talked to the media about a controversial budget-cut
absorbing method.

Marla Bradeen, an analyst with the facilities services department, was
mentioned in a seattletimes.com story last week about the department's
plan to lay off 17 custodians and eliminate the night shift for many
remaining workers. While the change would cut costs, it could also
force night-shift custodians to quit other daytime jobs or find new
daytime caretakers for children or elderly parents.

Bradeen, an analyst with the facilities services department, received
a letter Friday informing her she was under investigation for
releasing confidential and sensitive information without permission.
The letter was dated June 11, the same day UW custodians and students
held a rally to protest the shift switch.

Bradeen answered an emphatic, "No," today when asked whether she felt
she disclosed confidential or sensitive information to media outlets.

Employees from UW's human resources department said they do not
comment on the personnel matters.

Bradeen said she met with human resource employees today. When her
request to record the meeting was denied, she asked the department to
send the allegations against her in writing. She said she was informed
that there were no allegations made against her but that an
investigation was being launched.

"I'd like to hear what I'm accused of, but apparently no one knows,"
she said.

The Seattle Times was the only media outlet that mentioned Bradeen by
name, although she says she also spoke with radio station KUOW-94.9.

Bradeen was quoted in two news releases by a group organizing the
rally, the Anti-Budget Cuts Coalition. The news releases quoted
Bradeen saying the shift switch was an empty gesture to "leave the
impression" that the department needed more funding. Financial
information released to the media, such as the salaries of managers
and the department's budget, also was attributed to her.

Lindsay Toler: 206-464-2463 or ltoler@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company

PRESS RELEASE-June 11th

2009-06-22T17:45:00.000-07:00

The following press release was put out on for the June 11th Rally and Board of Regents Meeting

PRESS RELEASE- For Immediate Release
June 11, 2009

Press Contacts:
Veryl Pow 253 678-4402; visfortruth@gmail.com
April Nishimura 425 281-0500; april.nishimura@gmail.com
UW Custodians Continue to Fight On-Campus Abuse
Unsatisfied with Short-term Victory, Custodians Continue to Fight; Students and Workers to Confront UW Board of Regents

Unsatisfied with the short-term victory gained from the previous rally on May 28th, enraged custodians at UW continue to fight alongside students to retain their nightshift jobs. This Thursday, June 11th, custodians and students will be escalating the fight by directly confronting the Assistant Vice President of Facilities Services, Charles Kennedy, who administers Custodial Services. At the previous rally, over two hundred custodians and students demonstrated to prevent the management of Custodial Services from re-assigning all nightshift custodians to dayshifts on June 1st. The strong and energetic showing at the rally successfully pressured management to temporarily delay the transfer over to dayshift by one month, or July 1st. However, despite this delay, on July 1st, nightshift custodians are set to be transferred onto dayshift, an impractical move for those with second jobs or those who normally take care of their children or aging parents during the day. For some who require second day jobs to supplement the meager $20,000-$30,000 they earn as custodians, the transfer over to dayshift means losing their houses altogether because of the inability to pay mortgages on the custodial salary alone.

Despite strong community support for custodians, management has already laid off 17 custodians, eliminated 29 other vacant custodial positions, and shown its tenacity to push through the transfer to dayshift. Management is retaliating against dayshift custodians who participated in the May 28th rally by reassigning their parking locations. Management is retaliating against dayshift custodians who participated in the May 28th rally by reassigning their managers, and thus their time punch locations starting the Monday after the rally. Whearas previously custodians punched in at or close to their worksites, some have now been reassigned time punch locations much further away, with some (including many women) forced to walk upwards of forty-five minutes in the middle of the night (dayshift begins at 5 a.m.) before arriving to their worksites.
Management has also retaliated by assigning those workers who attended the May 28th rally additional tasks that are beyond their workload. Workers have also been randomly reassigned to new workplaces they have never worked at before.

Additionally, in anticipation of the transfer on July 1st, management has already introduced “team cleaning” among some dayshift workers. “Team cleaning,” in which groups of custodians are assigned specific tasks and work in teams, will replace the current model of custodians assuming numerous duties individually. “Team cleaning” is viewed by management as an adequate measure to compensate for the shorter period of time custodians will have to clean all the classrooms and labs after the transfer. While nightshift custodians now have eight hours to clean classrooms, transferring them over to dayshift means that custodians will only have three hours to clean classrooms and labs before lectures and lab sessions begin at 8 a.m. Many custodians, such as James Wilson, have complained that “team cleaning” instead slows the cleaning process because “management is shoving workers into groups where each [custodian] is unfamiliar with the cleaning techniques of the others.” Furthermore, lab technicians in the Health Sciences building have also voiced concern that eliminating night-time cleaning will interfere with the quality of their research. UW professor of Medicine and Genome Sciences, Mary-Claire King, runs a laboratory in Health Sciences, which brings in millions of dollars to in federally funded grants to the university. She worries that after the transfer, custodians will have to continue cleaning into lab sessions to ensure a clean and safe work environment. According to King, “My lab has 32 people working at lab benches with highly fragile constructs and reagents all day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m…if these custodians had to work around 32 people, it would be madness.”

Management has continually framed the layoffs and transfers as necessary cost-saving measures in these troubled economic times. However, according to custodian Ken Mills, who took part in negotiations with management, “We’re willing to make concessions that will give [the university] the same savings through another method.” In an attempt to save the nightshift, the union representing the custodians, the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) 1144, conceded to give up its night-time shift differential, which amounts to $180,000. WFSE’s concession, attempts to negate the cost-saving rationale behind management’s transfers. In response, management has accepted the union’s offer to deduct the shift differential, but has not held up its end. In fact, it fully intends to carry out the transfers on July 1st. Jane Mee Wong, a member of the Anti-Budget Cuts Coalition, believes that the transfer has nothing to do with the budget crisis, but is “part of a larger, long-term push to squeeze custodians, reducing the number of custodians, and increasing their workload while their real wages and benefits decline.” Indeed, Gene Woodard, the Director of Custodial Services, has said, “It’s been a long-term trend of ours to move buildings to the day shift. We’ve been doing this since 1997…In 1997, we had 35 custodians on days, and now we have 186 custodians on days.”

To add to the doubts of management’s claims of cost-saving, allegations of management corruption have recently surfaced. According to Marla Bradeen, an analyst at the Finance and Business Services, which oversees the expenditures of Facilities Services, “Facilities Services appears committed to cutting services and personnel in order to prove the department’s need to more funding.” She believes that custodial management would rather cut staff and services to create an illusion that Facilities Services was already facing budget cuts and therefore, would be able to retain its full funding. She continues, “Cutting salaries or implementing furloughs may leave the impression that Facilities Services could easily withstand budget cuts and place our department in the position of having to absorb additional cuts in the future.” Thus, neither Charles Kennedy, whose salary has increased 30% over the past couple of years from $200,000 to $260,000, nor Gene Woodard, whose salary is $133,560, face salary reductions, despite the aforementioned layoffs to 17 custodians and the transfer of nightshift custodians to the dayshift. In other words, the layoffs and transfer are visible measures that give the impression of a budget shortfall within Facilities Services, but are designed to effectively preserve the high salaries of management. Marla speculates that this is the reason why the 2.5 million dollar surplus money that Facilities Services has carried over into the fiscal year is not being tapped to save custodial jobs, but instead to “improve infrastructure” such as renovating the Physical Plant Office Building where Charles Kennedy’s office is located. Matthew Hamilton, member of the Anti-Budget Cuts Coalition, believes Custodial Services is moving towards a “top-heavy management structure” where the increase in management’s pay is matched by an increase in the number of managers overseeing a decreasing custodian workforce. Currently ten managers and ten supervisors manage 260 custodians.

According to student Alice Roesch-Knapp, “The custodial situation is a microcosm of how budget cuts are being distributed across the University of Washington. Tuition hikes are making higher education less accessible, and are a sign of how UW is being privatized.” Privatizing the custodial staff would mean the elimination of retirement, benefits, health insurance, sick leave and vacation time and union protection from other worker abuses. Because of the increased privatization of the university, following the confrontation with Charles Kennedy, custodians and students will then head to the UW Board of Regents meeting to challenge the budget cuts expected to be passed earlier that morning. Cuts will disproportionately affect UW’s most vulnerable populations such as custodians and low-income youth by raising tuition levels to 28% over the next two years. In addition, students will be paying more for a reduced quality of education. At least six branch libraries are expected to close, the future of the Disability Studies department is uncertain, and the Women’s Center faces a 50% cut in its budget and the elimination of all work-study positions. According to Jane Mee Wong, “The current budget cuts at UW are not simply an issue of fiscal policy, but one of civil rights and access of the university to women, students of color, and working class students.”

At the Regents meeting, custodians and students will demand that the Regents instead adopt an alternative budget developed by students, staff, and community members that proposes viable solutions to counter the budget cuts. The alternative budget was publicly presented to the Board of Regents at their May 28th meeting. These solutions include a salary cap at $150,000 for those making over $150,000, which alone will save $3.6 million. Both students and custodians are hoping that the Regents will willingly address and adopt their alternative budget. If not, students and custodians will not accept the budget cuts quietly at the Regents meeting on Thursday.

###
_______________________________________________________________________
Anti-Budget Cuts Coalition (ABC Coalition)
The Anti–Budget Cuts Coalition is a broad-based group of students, workers, and community members at University of Washington. We are committed to fighting for alternatives to layoffs, tuition increases and cuts to higher education so that the University remains accessible to students of color, working-class students, women, and queer students.

Open Letter to Charles Kennedy

2009-06-22T16:52:00.000-07:00

The following letter was sent by student and community group, Democracy Insurgent, to Charles Kennedy, and cc'd to the Board of Regents on the day of the Regents meeting. The list of demands was presented to Charles Kennedy at the meeting for him to sign--he refused.

Democracy Insurgent
University of Washington

June 11th 2009

Charles Kennedy
Associate Vice President
Facilities Services
University of Washington

Cc: Mark Emmert, V'Ella Warren,Phyllis Wise, Gene Woodard, Craig Cole, Stanley Barer, Kristianne Blake, Jeffrey Brotman, William Gates Snr, Sally Jewell, Frederick Kiga, Constance Proctor, Herb Simon, Jean-Paul Willynck , Eric Staples, Seattle Times, Seattle PI, Real Change, KUOW, Indymedia

Dear Mr. Kennedy,

Open the Books at Facilities Services and subsidiaries!

We are writing to demand that the University of Washington Facilities Services, and its subsidiary departments, including Custodial Services, release its itemized lined budget of the past AND upcoming fiscal year to the public. We also demand that your office undergo an audit to make clear to the UW community that our tax dollars and tuition money have not gone into wasteful, unnecessary spending that appears to have benefitted only top management positions in your department.

As Associate Vice President of Facilities Services, you have awarded yourself a 30% “merit-based” pay raise over the past two years, raising your salary from $ 200, 000 to $ 260,000. In addition, there is also a $ 2.5 million surplus carried over from the last fiscal year in the Facilities budget.

These financial surpluses reflected both in your own pay raise as well as the $2.5 million carryover, are shocking at a time when your subsidiary department, Custodial Services, is declaring a 16% budget deficit. The director of Custodial Services, Gene Woodard, has claimed he has to take drastic measures to balance the budget deficit by eliminating the custodian swingshifts, laying off workers and imposing team-cleaning for custodians. We are concerned that the discrepancy may be indicative of corrupt practices in your department.

We demand to know what the criteria and process were, for the following “merit-based” pay raises:

- Associate Vice President: earned $200,000 in 2007 versus $260,000 today (a 30% increase)

-Executive Director of Campus Engineering and Operations: earned $180,000 in 2007 versus $198,000 today (a 10% increase)

-Director of Maintenance and Alterations: earned $150,000 in 2007 versus $164,000 (a 9% increase)

-Director of Transporation Services: earned $119,000 in 2007 versus $150,000 today (a 26% increase)

-Director of Custodial Services: earned $122,000 in 2007 versus $133,000 (a 9% increase)

-Director of Finance and Business Services: earned $119,000 in 2007 versus $132,000 today (an 11% increase)

-Director of Emergency Management: earned $103,000 in 2007 versus $113,000 (a 9% increase)

In contrast, custodians working for Facilities Services have not faced similar pay raises. The top-step custodian salary is a mere $31 000. In fact, with the recent budget cuts, swingshift custodians have lost their shift differentials as well as a 2.5% cost of living raise that was included in the most recent union contract. 17 custodians have also been laid off. There are currently 39 fewer custodian positions, many of which have not been replaced after retirement and firings.

Mr. Kennedy, is it possible that the money allocated for these custodial jobs by the state, have instead gone into management pay raises?

Mr. Kennedy, in times of economic crisis such as now, comparing your salary with the salary of the average custodian, which salary do you think would better withstand cuts and reductions?

In addition to dubious pay raises that management has received over the past two years, unnecessary and costly renovations to the Facilities Services buildings have been conducted.

The Physical Plant Office Building, where you and other higher-paid Facilities Services staff have offices, began undergoing renovation in January 2009. Remodel costs for this project currently total $165,000. This costly remodeling was justified under the pretext of additional “building security.” The additional security appears to be the installation of card-reader locks, as well as a receptionist desk, where someone can sit and monitor who wanders in and out of a previously open building. Ironically enough, the custodian who used to lock the doors of the Physical Plant Office Building was recently identified for layoff.

It appears that your department is resorting to staff layoffs and swingshift eliminations to address the budget shortfall. Where cuts to exorbitant pay raises, extravagant renovation expenditures, are easily in reach, and options for furloughs available, it is unclear as to why management resorts instead to targeting the most financially vulnerable workers in the university. For all its claim to maintain a diverse and multicultural university setting, it appears that the UW Facilities Services is satisfied with forcing the predominantly immigrant and people of color custodial workforce to carry the burden of the economic crisis on their backs. It also appears as if your department is unwilling to implement alternative options for fear that it sends the wrong political statement regarding the financial status of your department.

According to Marla Bradeen, Finance and Business Services analyst in Facilities Services,

Facilities Services appears committed to cutting services and personnel in order to prove the department's need for more funding. From my interpretation of comments made by management, the department may believe that cutting salaries or implementing furloughs may leave the impression that Facilities Services could easily withstand budget cuts and place our department in the position of having to absorb additional cuts in the future.

In light of such accusations of dishonesty and unaccountable money allocations in Facilities Services, we believe that an audit of your department is in order. We also demand to review the itemized line budget of your department for the past AND upcoming fiscal year so as to understand where the $2.5 million carryover would be allocated.

We look forward to hearing from you soon. You can contact us via email at d.insurg@gmail.com.

Democracy Insurgent

June 11th Rally Flyer

2009-06-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

Open Letter to Board of Regents

2009-06-22T16:36:00.001-07:00

On June 5, 2009, ABC Coalition sent the following letter to the Board of Regents, as well as to several press outlets. This letter was straegically planned prior to the June 11th Board of Regents meeting and accompanying rally. Stay tuned for links to press from the rally itself.

June 5, 2009

Open Letter to the University of Washington Board of Regents

On May 28th, members of the Anti-Budget Cuts Coalition presented a series of demands to the Board of Regents at the town hall meeting. These demands were summarized within an alternative Public Budget.

The ABC Coalition demanded a response to this budget by June 10th, 2009.

At the town hall, the Regents refused to engage in conversation with students, workers, and community members. They would not answer questions and were not interested in dialogue. They will be voting at the June 11th Board of Regents meeting on the budget presented by the University administration without ever having been accountable to the demands and questions of the University community.

We demand that the Board of Regents on June 11th take two hours during their meeting to discuss the budget with all those present. This would include putting all options on the table and the Board of Regents either defending the cuts that disproportionately affect women, people of color, immigrants, and workers, or rejecting the budget and requiring that the UW administration resubmit a budget based on the guidelines presented in the Public Budget. These guidelines include:

-A public statement rejecting the 25% cuts from Olympia

-Moratorium on staff and TA layoffs across UW campuses

-No tuition hikes

- Impose a salary cap on administrators making above 150,000

-Exhaust exiting “rainy day” funds and endowments before passing costs on to students and workers

-Stop closure of any library services

-Reject privatization of the university and the high-tuition model

-Use profitable athletics programs to finance educational programs

-Divert state funds for nonessential projects

Several issues in particular were highlighted at the town hall meeting on May 28th which require a response from the Board of Regents. These include:

-The Reorganization of Custodial Services: While swingshift workers have won a partial victory by postponing the shift transfer to daytime, they are still facing a loss of pay and the threat of a permanent shift transfer. Additionally, dayshift workers have been reassigned to different parts of campus, creating extra hardship including walking 45 minutes at 4 am from their designated parking lot to their place of work. Management has been making changes without regard for the well being of all custodians, and we demand an end to their heavy-handed changes.

-The Women’s Center Budget Cuts: While other programs have been cut by 12% on average, the Women’s Center's state funding has been cut in half. This poses devastating consequences to the people who access the Center’s services. This includes young women who are first generation college students, survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, nontraditional students, or women who are underrepresented in their fields of study.

-The End of the Disability Studies Program: The budget for the Disability Studies program may be cut so drastically that the program may have to cancel its scheduled classes for Fall 2009. These courses are critical for both students with disabilities and others to advocate for equal access to the University’s campus and programs, and they are very popular as they are full every quarter. Disability Studies contributes to many fields of study in both the arts and sciences, including Rehabilitation Science, Access Technology, and Law. In order for this vital program to continue to thrive, it needs sufficient funding.

While the University administration denies all such charges, it is clear that the cuts disproportionately affects people who have been historically been excluded from the University: women, students of color, people with disabilities, and immigrant, low-income workers. Drastic cuts, layoffs, or reorganizations are not happening in the most profitable departments or to the most highly paid administrators. We understand that, in fact, many highly paid administrators have received raises of 15- 30% in the past several years, and yet are not rolling back these boons of prosperous times in this time of economic crisis.

The ABC Coalition demands that the UW Board of Regents reserve time in their June 11th meeting from 1230 pm to 230 pm to discuss the budget with students, workers, and community members.

If the Board of Regents and the administration refuse to cooperate with the University community and ignore the demands of the ABC Coalition, this fight will not be over. We will continue to struggle against the undemocratic, elitist tendencies of the Board and administration until students and workers have a democratic say in the future of the University of Washington.

Open letter to Gene Woodard

2009-05-26T01:16:00.000-07:00

Democracy Insurgent sent this open letter to Gene Woodard, Director of Custodial Services, who is cutting the custodial swingshift under the pretext of budget cuts.

This letter was CCed to the following:
President Mark Emmert, Provost Phyllis Wise, Charles Kennedy (Vice President of Facilities Services), Paul Ramsey (Dean of the School of Medicine), Lawrence Robinson (School of Medicine Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs), John Slattery (School of Medicine Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Education), Martha Somerman (School of Dentistry Dean), Timothy DeRouen (School of Dentistry Associate Dean for Research), Patricia Wahl (Dean of School of Public Health), Eric Staples (reporter at the UW Daily).

Dear Mr. Gene Woodard,

Cuts to custodian’s swingshift will affect the cleanliness of medical facilities and labs in the

Health Sciences buildings

We are members of Democracy Insurgent, a student group at UW involved in fighting against the budget cuts, tuition hikes, and layoffs that the UW administration has accepted and enforced. We are a member group of the Anti-Budget Cuts Coalition. More information about our campaign can be found at:

http://nobudgetcutsuw.blogspot.com/2009/05/support-immigrant-workers-at-uw.html.

We are writing to demand that you rescind your decision to cut the custodian swingshifts. We believe that if you do not, your actions will affect the cleanliness and reputation of the Health Sciences labs and medical facilities. We are inclined to take the following actions listed at the end of this letter to expose this fact to the broader community. This could have the potential of negatively affecting the reputation of various UW medical institutions and research labs.

Support Immigrant workers at UW!

2009-05-25T12:16:00.000-07:00

Democracy Insurgent, a student group at the University of Washington, is a member group of the Anti Budget Cuts Coalition. We have been organizing at the university to oppose the devastating budget cuts facing students and staff. We wanted to inform you of some actions going on this Thursday, May 28th at the University of Washington. Students and custodians have been organizing to try to prevent the University from cutting the custodians' swingshifts. If these shifts are cut, many of the custodians will face incredible hardship and may lose their jobs. Those that currently work swingshifts do so because there is some reason they can't work the day shift. For example, their spouse may work during the day, so they need to take care of the children during the day; or they work a second or third job during the day.

The overwhelming majority of these custodians are immigrant workers from places like Korea, The Phillipines, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mexico and Central America, and Vietnam. Because of their immigrant status, the custodial management has threatened to call ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to intimidate workers and discourage them from organizing to oppose the unjust cuts. To combat these racist actions by the management, we need to mobilize a broad base of students, workers, and community members to protest these cuts and unjust labor practices, and to let the people on top know that we will not allow this exploitation and racism to continue.

So, we are calling on all communities to make a show of support for these immigrant workers, as they demand the right to keep their jobs and work under safe and fair conditions. There are several ways that you can provide support:

1) Bring people out to the actions on Thursday, May 28th. The more people we have and the wider base of support that is shown, the more pressure we will be able to put on management.

2) Advertise it to your respective communities through community centers, organizations, and networks. Below is an email template you can use, and attached are some flyers describing the events that can be distributed. Also, below is a Facebook page that provides details of the events, as well as a blog with more information about the issue.

3) Write and send us a statement of solidarity and support for the custodians from your community or community organization. If no one from your community can be there on Thursday, then we can read it to the crowd to let them know that your community supports the custodians. If someone can come from your community, then perhaps they could read the statement to the crowd.

To contact us for more information or to send statements of solidarity, email us at d.insurg@gmail.com.

Save the UW libraries!

2009-05-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

SAVE THE UW LIBRARIES!

COME TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS MEETING

THURSDAY MAY 28TH

KANE HALL 110, 1-3PM

(Rally to begin in Red Square at 12:30)

TELL THE BOARD OF REGENTS CLOSING LIBRARIES AND RESTRICTING HOURS WILL HURT STUDENTS AND FACULTY!

ACCORDING TO PROPOSED BUDGET MODELS PASSED BY THE UW ADMINISTRATION, THE LIBRARIES WILL HAVE TO CUT 12% OF ITS BUDGET (OR APPROX. $3.7 MILLION). THIS WILL RESULT IN THE ‘CONSOLIDATION’ (READ: CLOSURE) OF UP TO SIX LIBRARY BRANCHES, LAYOFF OF STAFF MEMBERS, CANCELLATION OF 1818 JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTIONS, SUSPENSION OF PRESERVATION EFFORTS AND RESTRICTION OF LIBRARY OPERATING HOURS. AS IT STANDS NOW ODEGAARD MAY SUSPEND ITS 24 HOUR SERVICE AND OTHER MAJOR LIBRARIES MAY CLOSE AT 5PM DURING THE WEEK AND BE CLOSED DURING THE WEEKEND. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!

ACCORDING TO THE UW ANTI-BUDGET CUTS COALITION’S ALTERNATIVE BUDGET, A $150,000 CAP ON ADMINISTRATIVE SALARIES (NOT INCLUDING INSTRUCTORS) WOULD AFFECT 150 PEOPLE AND PROVIDE $3.6 MILLION. IN OTHER WORDS IT WOULD SAVE THE LIBRARIES!

JOIN THE ABC COALITION AND DEMAND THE BOARD OF REGENTS RECONSIDER THE PROPOSED BUDGET.

For more information contact the ABC Coalition: abccoalitionuw@gmail.com. We have weekly meetings every Thursday at 6pm in Parrington Hall, Room. 206.

Por que los trabajadores cargan el peso de la crisis economica que nosotros no creamos?

2009-05-25T11:57:00.001-07:00

Despidan a Gene Woodard, aorren $133, 560!

Los conserjes demandan:
Turnos de la tarde
Alto a los despidos
Control en el lugar de trabajo

Los conserjes de la Universidad de Washington demandan que:
Salven los turnos de la tarde
Hagan recortes a la mala administracion
Salven el lugar de trabajo
Alto a lugares de trabajo inestables
Beneficio por turnos especiales

No a las juntas privadas a ultimo momento

Por que los trabajadores cargan el peso de la crisis economica que nosotros no creamos?

May 28th Custodian rally FLYER in Korean

2009-05-25T11:53:00.001-07:00

A PUBLIC Budget: An Alternative Proposal

2009-05-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Mark Emmert and the Board of Regents like to tell us there is NO WAY OUT of this crisis in the university.

We at the ABC Coalition present a Public Budget that says,

NO! to the state cuts to higher education, and
NO! to tuition hikes and layoffs.
Cut from the Top, Not from Us!

Read the Public Budget HERE.

Custodian workers and students rally against budget cuts!

2009-05-23T11:39:00.001-07:00

Custodian workers at UW are also fighting against the top-down manner in which the budget cuts were imposed. They face cuts in the swingshift and layoffs. Many families rely on these shifts to support their family. Read here for more.

Many have said that the economic crisis has been used as an excuse to further exploit the workers.
Gene Woodard, the head of the custodial facilities at UW, continues to make $ 133, 560.

An average custodian makes about $ 24, 000

If it was really about money, then why won't Gene take a pay cut?

Join us at 1130am on Thurs May 28th on Red Square to demand that

Check out this flyer that students and custodians collaborated on. Please distribute widely.

Press Release, In Soo Chun

2007-10-31T15:00:00.000-07:00

October 30, 2009

Continuing Worker Struggle against UW Abuse Remembers In Soo Chun

Seattle, WA- Exactly one year since the self-immolation of a former UW custodian on Red Square, UW workers rally at site today to commemorate their former co-worker, as well as to ask questions regarding his death.

Discontent with both the UW administration’s response to and media coverage of the self-immolation of a former UW custodian, custodians, trades workers, and students at the University of Washington will hold a memorial service today, October 30, at 11:00am, at the site of the immolation on Red Square. At the memorial service, they demand to know about the events leading up to In Soo Chun's public and dramatic self-immolation.

One year ago, on October 30, 2008, 61-year old In Soo Chun, then recently terminated from his position as a custodian at UW, lit himself on fire on Red Square in front of the UW administration building and later died from second- and third-degree burns on over 90 percent of his body. UW spokesman Norm Arkans quickly wrote off In Soo Chun as “clearly a troubled individual,” which set the tone for broader media coverage on the incident. Most of the press coverage was brief and agreed that In Soo Chun was emotionally unstable.

In South Korea, self-immolation has been used as a form of protest since the 1970s that is tied to the labor movement. It is unclear if In Soo Chun's public self-immolation was also a similar form of protest.

This Friday at the memorial service, UW workers and students will ask pressing questions that challenge the narrative given by the UW administration and local press. According to Mr. Yong Nam, a Korean custodian at UW, “If In Soo Chun committed suicide as administration claimed, then why did he choose to take his life in such a dramatic fashion right in front of the President's office?” Additionally, custodian James Stephen Wilson asks, “Was he trying to protest the mistreatment that UW employees face?” Another custodian at UW and a friend and coworker of In Soo Chun who chose to remain anonymous, emphatically states, “he was not crazy.”

Since late May, custodians and other UW workers have been rallying to protest unreasonable and inhumane managerial practices, such as arbitrary workplace reassignments and transfers, workplace speed up, and increased workloads. Rallies continued well into the summer, even as students dissipated for the summer break, with posters and chants specifically invoking the memory of In Soo Chun. In invoking his memory, custodians have said, “In Soo Chun has died for us.” Many workers who were not even personally acquainted with In Soo Chun choose not to distance themselves from his death based on the administration’s claim that he was emotionally unstable. Rather, they relate to how his death was written off in a similar way workers’ demands are ignored. Others believe that it was the workplace conditions to which In Soo Chun was subjected, similar to those that workers face today, that impelled him to take such a drastic and public action. As Wilson puts it, “We face the same extra work and uncompromising management today that he faced one year ago.” Workers who called on this memorial service see it connected to their continuing struggle for better treatment and humane work conditions at the university. According to Cindy Gorn, a teaching assistant at UW, “In remembering In Soo Chun, we are telling the university that they cannot cover up their mistreatment of workers. We want an independent investigation into his work situation leading up to his death, and we are calling for an end to worker abuse on campus today.”

A Public Records request for any documentation relating to In Soo Chun's termination has been requested since September 2009. As of today, October 30th, the University has yet to release the information.

###
_______________________________________________________________________
International Workers and Students for Justice (IWSJ)
IWSJ.Seattle@gmail.com