By
Dear President Robert Dynes,
As the representative body of the undergraduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the Student Union Assembly (SUA) has moved to communicate our position of full support for the efforts of AFSCME custodians at UCSC, UCB, and UCSB, and groundskeepers at UCI to receive comparative market wages. It is the understanding of the SUA that this is a feasible goal, as $8.5 million have been identified in the UC budget to accomplish this objective. This body strongly feels that the money shall bear no strings attached and should not be used as leverage during the current pension negotiations.
The effectiveness of UC staff coincides with wages paid, and the quality of services for students, faculty and the UC community as a whole affect the everyday activities and performance of the UC as an institution of higher education. At the UCSC campus specifically, it is not rare to find custodians working multiple jobs to survive in the county of Santa Cruz. It is unacceptable that employees of the University of California are living in poverty, and all members of the UC community, including the UC President, should support the ability for workers and families to live with dignity.
UCSC faculty, staff, and especially students have shown an unwavering support for workers of the University of California, Santa Cruz County, and other international labor struggles. Members of the UC community have previously moved to action on numerous occasions regarding the issue of wage parity for AFSCME custodians, and students will be moved to further action to achieve wage parity for UC employees. The UCSC Student Union Assembly urges you, President Dynes, to swiftly allocate the designated funds to give custodians at UCSC, UCB, and UCSB and groundskeepers at UCI comparative market wages, free from any contingency regarding the pension negotiations.
*Respectfully, Student Union Assembly University of California, Santa Cruz*
