UC/Berkeley Library Assistants Strike
for Better Pay, Working Conditions
In the first major walkout at the University of California/Berkeley in 30 years, the Coalition of University Employees—which represents library assistants and clerical workers, as well as other university personnel—staged a three-day strike beginning August 26, the first day of the fall semester.
Several classes were cancelled and a few small libraries and offices were shut down by the walkout, the San Francisco Chronicle reported August 27. Campus officials estimated about 40% of clerical staff stayed off the job the first day.
Clerical workers, who have been without a contract since November, seek a 15% wage increase over two years plus an end to what they say is an over-reliance on temporary staff. “We’re hoping this will show them [UC officials] how far we’re willing to go and how serious we are,” said library assistant Yakov Wiegmann.
University officials called the strike illegal and said they are “ready to return to the table anytime” the union presents a comprehensive proposal, according to a spokesman for the president’s office. The university says it’s limited by state budget cuts and has offered a 2% increase for the last school year and a 1.5% increase for the current year, the UCB Daily Californian reported August 27.
Posted September 2, 2002.
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