(1) We’re On Strike Tomorrow!
Together with faculty and students, UPTE members across the state will walk out tomorrow to protest the destructive path President Yudof has unilaterally forced UC down over the summer.

For TX/RX, UC has refused to bargain about furloughs and job security, or the money that is available for raises for those not on state funds. For faculty, Yudof has willfully violated shared governance to impose furloughs and cuts that will permanently undermine education and research. Now, last week, Yudof proposed student fee increases of over 30% in one year.

Join the picket line and walkout tomorrow for this historic day of popular action, a day of action to defend the University of California that we work so hard to keep great. Together we can force Yudof to start a real dialog on how to weather the current budget shortfall as a team.

(2) While UC Refuses To Bargain, Executives Negotiate Themselves More Raises
Last week, at the same regents’ meeting where Yudof announced the 30% increase in student fees, nearly a dozen executives were awarded raises of up to 30%, or as high as $52,000. If UC were truly in a budget crisis, and the plan was truly to share the pain, Yudof would show leadership at the top and impose a moratorium on all executive raises.

The only defense offered for these raises is that oft-repeated refrain, “quality executives must be paid market rates.” That avoids the question of why, in Yudof’s mind at least, these market criteria do not apply to clericals, researchers and faculty making 20% to 30% under market wages. The proposal for those of us who do the work is a pay cut now, and more pay cuts over the next 3 years to pay for the pension fund.