Glover skips graduation over strike
San Francisco Chronicle 5/10/07
Riley said he thought about using the speech Saturday to talk to graduates about the union's demands.
"However," he said, "being that the speaking theme I was given was 'Revolution: Command Change,' I feel the best way to embody the theme is not to give lip service to it but to show that we must be involved in the struggles that are happening to us every day."
Glover's cancellation wasn't a surprise. The actor announced last week that he wouldn't show unless the University of California president's office settled its disagreement with Local 3299 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents the custodians.
Although Glover was on the East Coast and was prepared to fly back if a settlement was reached, there has been no progress toward a resolution, said William Schlitz, the union's political communications director.
Cal Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau was the keynote speaker as about 25 union members carried signs and paraded in front of the Greek Theatre. The annual commencement convocation, a celebration for graduating seniors across all departments on campus, opened a series of graduation events that run through May 21. Some 10,000 graduates will receive diplomas at departmental commencements this month.
"We had a couple of people drive by and curse us out," Schlitz said. However, a number of drivers honked their horns in support.
The union is demanding pay raises for custodians at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz. It also wants contract groundskeepers at UC Irvine to be given university jobs.
A custodian who has worked a full five years at UC Berkeley makes $12 an hour, according to the union. In contrast, the union said, a custodian at the Peralta Community College District in Oakland makes $18.30 an hour.
The pay raises would be given under a contract provision that allows the university to adjust wages in specific job classifications in local markets to match the going rate for employees working for higher-education institutions in those locations.
The union announced last week that it was willing to accept a proposal offered by former state Sen. John Burton. The proposal would provide for a $1.75-an-hour increase for custodians on the three campuses and a raise of 75 cents an hour for custodians on other campuses. Schlitz said UC has not responded to the offer.
UC, in a May 2 statement, said there is no dispute that raises are needed and deserved. It said the only issue blocking an agreement is the union's refusal to distribute the raises equitably.
UC's proposal would provide the greatest increases to lower-paid workers whose wages are most below market, but the union rejects this, insisting on giving disproportionately high raises to custodians at the Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz campuses, according to the statement.
"This is their procedure," Schlitz responded. "The way our contract reads, equity adjustments are a campus-by-campus issue. There are over 500 examples of where they have given wage adjustments for workers at just at one campus."
Nicole Savikas, a UC spokeswoman, said: "I would simply reiterate the fact that UC's goal is to provide wage increases for our lower-paid employees systemwide in an equitable and fiscally responsible manner."
Schmidt said the union has no plans to boycott other UC Berkeley commencement events, which are scheduled through May 21.