Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Proposed UC Faculty Walkout for 9/24

Dear Colleagues,

I just got this email. Not sure how I feel about this (I disagree with some of the statements here but sympathize with the feelings of many of the faculty)(UPDATE - I think this whole boycott/walkout concept is unclear and strange and will not participate in it --- ) but thought I would post it for people interested.
As you may have heard, there is a broad movement to defend the future of public education in California, to restore faculty's role in shared governance, and to protect the most vulnerable employees within the UC system. It has become increasingly clear that these goals require an immediate and firm rejection of the manner in which the administration has handled the budget crisis over the summer. Last week, a systemwide call went out for faculty to take action on September 24.

You can see and support this call, as of this morning, at ucfacultywalkout.com

With limited circulation, this call has already been signed by hundreds of faculty in the UC system.

• It has been fully endorsed by the National AAUP.
• In coordination with this action, UPTE — an employee-run union with 12,000 members in the UC system — has called a strike and picket on 9/24
• The Solidarity Alliance at UCBerkeley has called for a "Walk-Out and Teach-In" on 9/24
• Option 4 at UCSB has declared "A Day of Learning, Solidarity, and Protest on 9/24"
• Saving UCLA has called for "A Day of Action" on 9/24
• The Graduate Student Union Organizing Committee at UCB is distributing an open letter calling for all UC GSIs to honor picket lines on 9/24, as they are contractually entitled to do.

These are some examples of the efforts already well under way to stand in solidarity with students and staff in defense of public education.

The call for the 9/24 actions, available at the website, calls for three demands on behalf of the future of public education in California. These demands are meant to insist upon:

1) Protection for the most vulnerable employees in the UC system
2) Respect for democratic process of decision-making
3) Information for public access concerning the handling of the budget cuts

If you support these basic goals as necessities for the University to pursue its educational mission, please sign on to the call at

ucfacultywalkout.com

If you would like further information on a simple, easy-to-organize action and education plan authored by UC faculty, we're able to provide this. Just ask.

With thanks and admiration for your commitment to the UC system and its future,

UC Faculty Walkout organizers

6 comments:

  1. Wouldn't it be great if the UC up and fired the strikers?

    I'm certain there are dozens of postgrads who would interview for the freed up positions.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Right to strike is a fundamental right

    ReplyDelete
  3. Absolutely - right to strike is a fundamental right. I have walked/assisted in many over the years. But that does not mean I have tu like this walkout nor does it mean I have to support it. This walkout rings hollow compared to strikes I have supported in the past - such as striking clerical workers at Harvard, etc. I think the arguments for this walkout are not coherent enough to support it. Not saying I love the things happening at UC - but I want to save my walkouts for things where there is a clearer point.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jonathan, I came across your blog by chance but I got drawn to it for many reasons. Thank you for sharing the information, despite the fact that you're not in support of it. However, I would really like to understand why you're not supporting this walkout. What would you call 'clearer points'? How would you add more coherency to it?
    Thank you in advance.
    Regards from Canada.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Stay tuned ... have an editorial in the SacBee tomorrow about this and am working on another blog post to clarify ...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just read the editorial in SacBee (which I had to Google first, being that I'm in Canada and have never heard of it). :)
    I'll sit on it overnight...I don't think it answered my questions but I'd prefer to think about it further before I expand on what I mean.
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete

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