Photo from the Daily Bruin, Brandon Choe

from UCLA’s SCALE (Student Collective Against Labor Exploitation)

After 20 months of bitter disagreement and 2 strikes, the UC and the AFSCME 3299 union signed a historic 4-year contract and called off a third system wide strike that was scheduled for March 3- March 7.

AFSCME 3299 represents 8,300 UC service workers that include food service workers, gardeners, bus drivers and custodians. Before this contract 99% of UC service workers were eligible for some form of public assistance. In fact, some full time workers still live in their cars. In addition to their economic difficulties, before the contract, workers were also forced to contend with severe job insecurity as the UC increasingly replaced these career employees with inexperienced outside contractors. Despite the difficult months of bargaining, the majority of the workers’ core demands have been met.

The four-year agreement includes a 4.5% signing bonus, a 3% wage increases for all employees, and an additional 2% increase for most employees each year for the next three years. Our UC workers also won more job security, as the new language in the contract prohibits several forms of contracting out. In addition the UC agreed to freeze Kaiser and Healthnet premiums for the life of the contract.

Student-worker solidarity and diligent organizing played a crucial role in obtaining the terms of the new contract. SCALE (Student Collective Against Labor Exploitation) has been working with AFSCME since 2013 by helping organize student demonstrations in order to provide awareness of the issues our workers face. SCALE helped organize marches for the strikes, encouraged student boycotts of dining halls in support for our workers, and informed the student body of the labor issues at the UC. Forging this student-worker relationship not only increases the bargaining power of the workers’ union here on campus but also the power of the student body. It was with workers’ support of prop 30 that Students won a tuition freeze in 2013. In the coming years it will be important to remember our struggles and our student-worker solidarity as the issues of increased tuition and unfair labor practices will undoubtedly continue. But rest assured, when the UC workers and students support each other we can help create a sustainable and equitable UC campus that we can all be proud of.

For more information, see

Contact:

SCALE-Student Collective Against Labor Exploitation
Join UCLA students in the fight for a fair, free, and democratic university, for us and workers together!
Meet: Tuesdays, 8 PM, Kerkhoff 414(A), UC Los Angeles
Questions regarding this article Contact: [email protected]