Students and Workers Block Road at UCSC to Protest Poverty Wages

On February 28th, UC Santa Cruz workers represented by the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299, and backed by students, demonstrated for justice, dignity and a fair working contract. The demonstration, aided by the sunshine, was organized by AFSCME and the Student and Worker Coalition for Justice. Over 350 people took part in the largest demonstration of the school year in support of UCSC's most underpaid workers. Instead of making demands outside the Chancellor's office, workers and students decided to get UCSC's attention by lining McLaughlin Drive and twice shutting down Hagar. Students and workers felt empowered by seeing how easily they can bring UCSC to a halt, especially when they have a lot of support from faculty and staff, as in 2005 when UCSC was shutdown for an entire day.

Workers are concerned that UC is replacing certain full-time career jobs with un-benefited per diem positions or hiring temporary workers, like registry or travelers, who have little experience working at UC. AFSCME Local 3299 Members believe that contracted jobs create a second class of workers at UC, usually with lower wages and benefits. AFSCME Local 3299 Members also believe that UC's use of sub-contracted, student, temp, registry workers hurts the ability of all UC workers to provide the best students services. In addition, AFSCME Local 3299 members feel that UC has been taking advantage of working students by hiring them to do the same work as AFSCME Local 3299 members but for less pay and benefits.