U of M strike enters second week
Youngsters held up signs at a strike support rally last week outside the Community University Health Care Center.
Photo by Deborah Rosenstein
The strike by clerical, technical and health care workers at the University of Minnesota enters its second week Monday, with numerous actions and support activities planned.
The workers, members of AFSCME Locals 3260, 3800, 3801 and 3937, went on strike Sept. 5 at campuses across the University of Minnesota system. Administrators claim only one-third of the 3,500 workers represented by those local unions have walked off the job; the union disputes that claim.
The workers are seeking pay increases to keep up with inflation. Workers and supporters held a rally Friday outside a session of the university’s Board of Regents and more than 100 students interrupted the meeting. Five were arrested and jailed, but released Saturday.
Legislators also stepped up pressure on the university to offer a fair settlement.
In a letter addressed to the regents and University President Robert Bruininks, state Representatives Tom Rukavina and Mary Murphy, chairs of two key Minnesota House Higher Education Finance Committees, wrote in part, “We are deeply disappointed that thousands of university employees have been forced onto the picket lines due to the unwillingness of the university administration to provide adequate contact settlements for its clerical, technical and health care workers.
“For the first time in many years, the Minnesota Legislature provided the university with a generous 3.25 percent salary supplement. We expected those funds to be used to benefit all university employees. We can’t understand how you can justify your minuscule offer of 2.25 percent on the salary schedule for your hardworking, dedicated employees.”
Activities planned this week include:
Monday – Continued picketing with more elected officials and candidates, including U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken, slated to visit strikers.
Also on Monday, striking clerical workers in Duluth will hold a news conference to discuss support activities occurring at UMD’s sister campus in Birmingham, England.
At 4:30 p.m. Monday, students will hold a solidarity and information meeting at the strike headquarters at University Baptist Church, 1219 University Ave. S.E., in Dinkytown.
Tuesday – Teach-ins about the strike are scheduled both Tuesday and Wednesday in the Twin Cities. University professors and instructors are expected to bring their classes to the teach-ins, held off campus at the Oak Street Cinema, 309 Oak St. S.E., Minneapolis. Download a pdf flier for the teach-ins.
Tuesday also will be “Teamster Tuesday.” University employees represented by the Teamsters union, who recently reached an agreement with the university, will be encouraged to join strikers on the picket lines during their non-working hours.
At 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, the Faculty Solidarity Group with meet at the strike headquarters at University Baptist Church, 1219 University Ave. S.E., in Dinkytown.
Wednesday – Students and other supporters will hold a West Bank Solidarity Picket and March from noon to 12:30 p.m. in the open area near the Washington Ave. pedestrian bridge on the West Bank. At 12:30 p.m., they will march across the bridge to the East Bank in a show of solidarity.
Participants in the weekly peace vigil on the Marshall Ave.-Lake St. bridge will highlight the connection between the university strike and the war in Iraq. “In U.S. society, those with the fewest resources are expected to bear the brunt of U.S. war by fighting on the front lines; likewise, at the University of Minnesota, those who are least able are asked to bear the costs of the university,” organizers said. The vigil will start at 5 p.m. on the bridge and end with a march to Bruininks’ house.
Saturday – A benefit for the strikers will be held starting at 7 p.m. at the CWA Local 7200 hall, 3521 E. Lake St., Minneapolis. A collection will be taken for the AFSCME U of M Workers Support Fund.
For more information
Visit the unions’ websites, www.afscme3800.org, www.afscme3937.org, www.afscmemn.org and www.d.umn.edu/~afscme/
To provide support, see www.uworkers.org and www.afscmemn.org
For information from the U of M Office of Human Resources, http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/er/negotiations/afscmeproposal.html
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Comments
Quit whining and get back to work
You’re getting a bigger pay raise than I will this year. Get back to work or find a new job that will pay you what you think you deserve. Until then, I have no sympathy for your cause.
Some of the people on strike
Some of the people on strike have a point. However the strike covers too wide of a group of people. Many of the people on strike are doing jobs which are low-skill, low-training jobs, which are already making more in starting pay and benefits than other people starting careers which required a four year+ degree. I am usually very union friendly, but this strike is idiotic. If you don’t do more than a high-school or two year technical degree, you should expect to get paid accordingly. They are already well above “livable” wage.
Plus I did some research, that 2.25% increase number is wrong. For most people it would be closer to 4.5%.
Some of the people on strike
As a long-term University worker, I can assure you that most of us do not have jobs requiring little skills and education. Look at the University Jobs Board sometime, and you’ll see what I mean: computer expertise (in exact computer programs, not just similar ones); often fluency in another language; typing of at least 55 words per minute (though to keep up with the workloads much faster typing is really required); excellent grammar and organizational skills; oftentimes a college degree and/or at least four years of responsible experience. Never has such been requested for so little pay. For higher-end jobs, supervisory experience is often necessary.
I have worked at the U almost 13 years and am only now making a somewhat decent salary (about $35,000). Many people have told me that when they apply here, they have little choice but to start at the bottom of their 20-“stepped” pay chart just to get the job.
Don’t speak of what you know little about. The “U” is incredibly cheap. And if they had their way, we’d all stay here no longer than five years so they can keep on hiring new people at low rates and even better, mostly temps for whom no benefits would have to be paid. Their obsession with taking out our little steps (which every other public employer has in their package) is cheap, pathetic and laughable (if it weren’t so sad).
Stephanie S., AFSCME 3800 clerical worker
What are their salaries?
Exactly how much do they get paid right now?
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