Members of University Labor United (ULU), a rank and file association of union members across the UC Santa Cruz campus, held a rally on May 1. They rallied in protest of past and proposed efforts of budget restructuring at UCSC, especially the recent Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS) proposal to raise the cost of parking permits.
The ULU gathered a crowd of over 80 people at the intersection of Hagar and Coolidge drive. The demonstration brought a wide range of graduate, service, technical and student workers that are unsatisfied with how the current UCSC administration has handled the ongoing budget deficit.
“I’m here because I see so many of my lecturer colleagues at a breaking point,” said Philip Longo, a lecturer and member of University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT), the union representing lecturers and librarians on campus. “It’s difficult to work here, in terms of making enough money, to be on campus, to be part of the university.”
Writing Program lecturer and UC-AFT member Philip Longo speaks to the crowd gathered outside the TAPS office.
The rally began at noon with a series of speeches from various union representatives before attendees marched toward the TAPS office, resuming the speeches and sharing food in front of the building.
Representatives from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) 3299, University Professional and Technical Employees CWA Local 9119 and the Voices for Empowerment and Safety in Transportation, the student-led commission appointed to improve campus transportation, speak at the rally.
The rally notably took place on International Workers’ Day, which honors the Chicago Haymarket Square massacre of 1886 where police officers fired upon striking workers after an unknown attendee detonated a bomb. Now, May Day is an international celebration of working-class labor movements.
For Will Parrish, a Ph.D. candidate and United Auto Workers 4811 member, the rally represented a continuation of this history. Parrish cited how this day intertwines with UCSC’s history of labor activism.
“Here at UCSC there’s a tradition of May Day rallies happening. May Day 2024 was the day the Palestine encampment was set up,” Parrish said. “Last year we had a rally of unions in support of striking AFSCME [3299] workers. This year we’re fighting the university restructuring and fighting the UC.”
Attendees march down from the Hagar and Coolidge drive intersection towards the TAPS office.
Tasha, an undergraduate organizer with the UC Laboring Undergraduate Coalition, spoke to the strength of the cross-union labor collaboration.
“The more unions show up, the more power we have, the more people show up, the more demands we can make, and the more likely we are to win,” she said.
