NEWS & LETTERS, October - November 2009
Berkeley STRIKE!
Berkeley--The Sept. 24 labor union strike and student/faculty walkout at University of California, Berkeley, reminded many at the noon rally of the campus in the 1960s. Picket lines at every entrance and thousands jamming Sproul Plaza harkened back to another labor/student collaboration, the 1969 Third World Liberation Front Strike. This time workers led the way. In mid-July the ten-campus, 11,000-strong University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) union chose to strike on the first day of classes in response to the University's proposed salary decreases and work furloughs, prompted by state budget cuts.
Faculty and students decided to follow suit by calling for a system-wide walkout. Undergrad student fees are scheduled to rise 32% over last year's. UC President Mark Yudof, empowered by the UC Regents to ignore administration/faculty shared governance, has called the $10,302 tuition "a bargain." One picket sign at Sproul read: "Education Is Not A Commodity."
A concern expressed by several speakers was the accelerating trend towards privatization of public education. That message resonated strongly with students at the rally who had walked out of nearby community colleges. I attended one such school, Laney College in Oakland, when a governing board member advocated toughening entrance requirements in order to matriculate "higher caliber" students.
The massive statewide walkout reflected an urgent sense among workers, professors and students that low- income people are being left behind. It was a call to reject an unacceptable future in which a $10,000 tuition could one day become a "bargain" at your local community college.
--David M'Oto
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