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Letter from Speaker Pro Tempore Leland Y. Yee, Ph.D.

Original letter

June 2, 2005

S. Michael Bishop, M.D.
Chancellor
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA

Recently, I was made aware that your office has issued letters of reprimand to members of the Coalition of University Employees (CUE) workers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) campus. It is my understanding that the letters were directed at CUB employees for honoring a strike by their fellow workers within the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union.

As members of UCSF staff, CUE employees are afforded the right to strike and may ask for the support of their fellow workers, including hospital staff and physicians. Therefore, the fact that CUE employees recently supported an AFSCME strike by taking a vacation day -- with the 10-days required notice -- should be in no way unusual or deserving of disproportionate retribution by the UCSF administration.

By design, the letters of reprimand represent a means to establish criteria for termination and, therefore intimidation, regardless of whether or not that was the intent of the UCSF administration. It is my contention that the letters of reprimand were unnecessary and unfortunate and I am concerned that UCSF has already done damage to what was a fruitful relationship between the administration and UCSF workers. I respectfully request that these letters be withdrawn from any personnel files of CUE workers so that the administration and its employees may again attempt to resolve the existing impasse without poisoning the relationship between the administration and UCSF workers for the long-term.

UCSF is a great public University and is so due to both the administration and the dedicated and skilled workers UCSF employs. That is why it is my firm belief that the letters of reprimand should be withdrawn or otherwise nullified.

I thank you for the opportunity to communicate with you regarding this important issue and I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Sincerely,

LELAND Y. Yee, Ph.D.
Speaker pro Tempore
California State Assembly