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UC Workers Call for Better Wages, Benefits

UC employees march in Westwood on the same day the Regents vote to raise tuition again.

On the same day that the Regents of the University of California voted to raise tuition by 9.6 percent, UC employees protested what they say are unfair wages and benefits. 

About 100 workers, represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, marched Thursday in Westwood, yelling for “justicia” and holding signs reading “Don’t Privatize UC” and “UC Don’t Force Us Into Poverty.” 

The union represents about 20,000 custodians, food service workers, hospital aides and security guards on University of California campuses. The union and the university system are negotiating provisions relating to health and retirement benefits and are working with a state mediator.

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“We’re letting the university know it is really hard for us now,” said Tom Bourgeois, 32, a laboratory technician at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. "We’re good workers. We’d like a little help surviving.”

The union brought in employees from campuses in Riverside, Santa Barbara and Irvine. They started at the corner of Le Conte and Westwood Plaza, then moved to Murphy Hall and said they planned to finish in front of UCLA Chancellor Gene Block's home. 

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“We want to send a message today,” said Julian Posadas, executive vice president of the union.   

A UCLA spokesman declined to comment but issued a release stating that the total compensation of University of California's AFSCME members is 18 percent higher than their counterparts at similar schools.

That might be true, Bourgeois said, but California is a lot more expensive to live in than other states. Because he can't afford housing near the UCLA campus, Bourgeois lives in Palmdale and commutes as much as two hours a day.

“We make way below what it takes to survive in LA,” he said, declining to disclose his salary. 

The Regents voted 14-4 to raise tuition by $1,068, an increase above the 8 percent hike already announced for this fall. UC tuition will now be $12,192 a year. Administrators said the move was necessary because California’s new state budget cut an additional $650 million from the university system’s allocation.

 
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