Glover threatens to drop out as Cal keynoter
San Francisco Chronicle 5/1/07
At a news conference on campus Monday, Glover gave his support to the university's 1,000 custodians who are seeking a wage increase to match pay levels at other higher-education institutions in the area.
"Unfortunately, the University of California is unwilling to do what is morally right and continues to maintain a system of poverty wages," he said in a statement.
UC officials could not be reached for comment but in the past have said it's a monetary issue that must be considered on a systemwide basis, not individual campuses.
The custodians are represented by AFSCME Local 3299, whose contract allows the university to adjust the pay levels of job classifications to match what comparable employers in the area pay employees who perform similar work.
A UC Berkeley custodian who has been on the job five years currently earns $12 an hour. In contrast, custodians at the Peralta Community College District in Oakland make $18.30 an hour, according to the union.
For more than a year, the union has been campaigning for equity pay raises for custodians at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz, and groundskeepers at UC Irvine.
Last May, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) began a boycott of the four campuses when custodians picketed five UC Berkeley commencement events and a number of scheduled speakers refused to the cross the lines. Glover said he is joining the boycott.
"The UC system should serve as a point of light in our communities and not as a mechanism to create poverty," he said.
William Schlitz, the union's political communications director, said custodians plan to picket the campus-wide undergraduate commencement convocation on Wednesday, May 9, at the Greek Theatre. He said if there is a picket line up, Glover will not cross it.
"If it's not solved by next week he will not be giving the commencement address," Schlitz said.
Schlitz said the union wants UC to implement a proposal worked out with state legislative leaders almost a year ago. He said the proposal calls for $8.9 million for pay increases for 1,500 custodians and groundskeepers at the four campuses.