On Labor

In the largest protest of students and unions in the history of the University of California, over 5,000 union, students and community supporters shutdow many parts of the UCB campus. The action was organized by a united front of the unions, student organizations and rank and file committees like the Student Worker Action Team SWAT which has been organizing over many months. The protests which took place at all UC campuses and were joined by support rallies at California community colleges such as San Francisco Community College and CSU campuses is part of a growing movement to defend education and to stop the privatization of the universities and education as a whole.

Many of the professors, students and unions such as CWA-UPTE, AFT, CUE and AFSCME were clear that the Yudof administration and the UC Regents that include multi-millionaires like Richard Blum are intent to totally privatizing the universities.

Peace and Freedom Party is for the defense of public education free from K-12 to the Community College, CSU system and UC system. Over the last 40 years a sustained attack has been made on education to through Proposition 13 and other privatization schemes including charter schools and joint private public ventures on the UC and CSU campuses. At UCB, BT now is in a major partnership with the University to benefit this oil company in it's corporate agenda.

After the mass rally an assembly was held in the evening to plan further organizing and a mass labor student statewide assembly is planned at UCB on October 24, 2009 from 8:00 AM to the evening. SWAT and other organizations have a website to help build this struggle at www.ucsolidarity.org.

The need for all 1.5 million public workers to join this fight is critical. Richmond and Oakland school teachers and students face draconian measures and the failure of the union tops to support statewide collective action has isolated the fightback against this onslaught.

Instead most unions such as the SEIU and AFSCME which represent the majority of public workers have made concessions locally and accepted furloughs to "save" jobs. This has had the opposite affect of encouraging managers and the bosses to go on the offensive on work rules and all union protection.

The assemblies were a means of bringing together all the union activists regardless from what unions they were members of to discuss and unite collectively.

California is one of the richest places in the world and as one Blanca Misse, a UAW-Adseg member and SWAT member said she doesn't believe that they don't have the money (http://blip.tv/file/2645883). She also talked about how the strike was organized and the lessons in the strike (http://blip.tv/file/2657153).

United action of all public workers with the millions of students in California would have the power to force major changes in going after the billionaires and the politicians who really represent them. At present the legislature even refuses to have an oil depletion tax and to put a ballot proposition forward that would end the commercial property exemption under prop 13.

Peace and Freedom fully supports the assemblies and mobilization and believes that the the trade unions need to join together to fight this massive attack on public services in California and oppose the politicians who are carrying out these attacks.
The Regents of the University of California and the Trustees at the CSU system are hand picked corporate representatives whose agenda is to carry out these attacks. We also support the election of all Regents and trustees by the workers, students and communities and support ballot measures and action to bring this about.

The Peace and Freedom Labor Committee will be working to build support for the October 24th assembly and also actions throughout the state on October 15, 2009 called by the California Faculty Association to protest the budget cuts. There will also be a rally at SF City Hall on October 15 at noon (http://www.ucsolidarity.org/content/save-public-education-rally-civic-center).

Peace and Freedom Party Labor Committee