UC - AFT NEWS

• Fall, 2004 UC-AFT Perspective (1 MB pdf)
• UC-AFT Election Candidate Statements
• Local 1474 election information
• UCB Extension English Language Program to close
• Lecturers Bargaining archives
• UC Administrators' Compensation Packages
• Roddy and Klar meet with Dynes

Strike FAQs for UC-AFT lecturers and librarians

(Frequently Asked Questions)

1. Why should we support other unions on strike?

In fall 2002 we went on strike with CUE, and got vigorous support from the other unions on campus. Improvements in the lecturers’ MOU had a lot to do with the publicity our members received as a result of that strike. It wouldn’t have happened without our fellow unions.

2. Can we go on strike with them as they went on strike with us ?

No, we cannot go on strike with them. The new lecturers’ and librarians’ MOUs prohibit lecturers and librarians from engaging in a sympathy strike during the term of our contract—that is, from withholding our labor because another union is on strike.

3. How can we support members of our fellow unions during a strike?

The MOU does not deprive you of your First Amendment right of free speech or your academic freedom. You may support fellow UC employees on strike

• a) by wearing buttons, teeshirts, or armbands supporting strikers’ issues/actions;
• b) by speaking at events or distributing literature;
• c) by discussing the labor and education issues raised by the strike with students and/or colleagues as appropriate (the administration represents strikes as hurting students—are there any other possible interpretations?);
• d) by spending some of your own, nonwork time on the picket line with strikers or by visiting strikers to offer food, drink, and moral support;

Unless instructed otherwise, a lecturer may manage the class so as to meet students’ needs and avoid forcing them to cross a picket line by

• a) discussing the strike, the issues, and the implications for their education with students in advance and/or during the strike;
• b) rescheduling the time or location of a class and/or office hours to avoid the disruption caused by requiring students to cross the picket line;
• c) substituting a special assignment for a class meeting (if appropriate for the class);
• d) taking your students to the picket line (if appropriate for the subject);
• e) creating assignments based on the strike (if appropriate for the subject and preferably optional—obviously no student should be required to join a picket line or participate in a political action).

Lecturers and librarians should not

• a) refuse to go to work (even if that involves crossing a picket line) unless there is a real threat to personal safety;
• b) refuse to work, fake illness, or take unauthorized vacation time;
• c) encourage other lecturers or librarians to withhold their labor.