| Coalition of University Employees (CUE) | 2855 Telegraph Ave., Suite #302, Berkeley, CA 94705 Contact CUE (510) 845-2221 (phone), (510) 845-7444 (FAX) |
COALITION OF UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES
State Headquarters: 2855 Telegraph Av., Berkeley CA (510) 845-2221 Fax (510) 845-7444
http://www.cueunion.org
WHAT: Clerical workers on strike at UC Berkeley -- picket lines, giant puppets, noisy demonstrations.
WHEN AND WHERE: June 13th - 5:00 a.m. at East Gate; 7:30 a.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph
WHEN AND WHERE: June 15th - UC's Office of the President, 1111 Franklin Street, Oakland, 12:00 noon, where Berkeley CUE members will be joined by union members from Davis, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
The Coalition of University Employees (CUE) which represents 2000 clerical workers at UC Berkeley and UC Office of the President in Oakland will strike at UC Berkeley on Monday, June 13 through Wednesday, June 15, part of a systemwide strike called by the union at all campuses.
CUE members voted by a margin of more than 93% to authorize a statewide strike last month when it became obvious that UC would refuse to budge on their "no raises" stance relative to bargaining on a 2003-04 contract dispute that has never been settled. Also at issue are library assistants' wages, which lag 33% below market rates. This is the third time in the last three months UC has been battered by striking employees on the 10 campuses throughout the state.
This is an economic strike based upon the outcome of testimony and evidence presented in a five-day fact-finding hearing. Arbitrator Gerald McKay stated in his publicly released Fact-Finding report, "Last year alone, the University diverted $20 million intended for clerical wage increases, choosing to spend the money on other purposes or add the money to reserves… The university's claim that it does not have the money to spend on them is not supported by the evidence."
Linda Moser, CUE Chief Negotiator, said "UC is the Enron of higher education. It is outrageous that at the same time that the Regents approved bonuses for top UC medical center administrators averaging $36,000, totaling $2.4 million, clerical workers have had no wage increases in over two years and are facing increases in costs of health benefits and parking fees."
CUE is the independent union that represents 16,000 clerical staff at the University of California's nine campuses and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
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For more information, contact:
COALITION OF UNIVERSITY EMPLOYEES
State Headquarters: 2855 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley CA
(510) 845-2221; Fax (510) 845-7444
www.cueunion.org