Librarians rally against deferential pay scale cause for librarian’s rally
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 14, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Librarians rally against deferential pay scale cause for
librarian’s rally
By Brooke Olson
Daily Bruin Staff
Although UCLA is known for student activism, university
employees rarely picket on campus against administrative
actions.
But such was not the case at Wednesday’s "UC Has No Heart"
demonstration, sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers and
university librarians.
More than 40 demonstrators clad in matching blue shirts gathered
to protest a proposal to cut librarians’ pay raises on a statewide
basis.
The teachers’ union has been arguing with the UC administration
about pay raises since April 1995. For the first time in 15 years,
university officials are withholding the yearly 3 percent pay
increase from the librarians, and members of the American
Federation of Teachers took a firm stand on this issue.
"I think the administration is screwing us," said Linda Maisner,
president of the local American Federation of Teachers.
Several spokespeople for the UCLA administration refused to
comment on the demonstration, saying they were unaware of the
issue.
In 1995, the university opened up the salary clause of the UC
librarians’ contract for negotiation. Librarians traditionally
receive the same pay raise as other academic workers, including
tenured and tenure-track faculty.
But the administration is attempting to detach librarians from
the group of workers, offering them half of their usual pay
increase instead. Librarians regarded this deferential pay scale as
unfair and potentially damaging to the morale of the library
workers.
"Students need to understand that it is their registration fees
which pay the librarians’ salaries," said Miki Goral, chief
contract negotiator for the teachers federation.
Others commented that the pay raise disparities could
potentially be detrimental to the university itself.
"Excellent administration service could possibly falter as a
result of unfair salaries," Goral added.
The librarians are also upset that the California state
legislature already appropriated all salary funds, which included
enough money to pay the librarians their full raise. Even though
the money has already been allocated, university officials withheld
the funds from the workers, librarian officials said.
"Obviously they have simply decided to withhold the money, and
who knows what exactly they’re doing with the money," questioned
Roberta Medford, action committee member for the teacher’s
federation.
Some students were sympathetic to the librarians’ position on
the pay cut.
"I think the librarians should be treated the same as the
faculty," said Patricia Alvarez, a third-year English student.
Other students, however, argued that the librarians’ jobs are
significantly less important than other faculty positions.
"Professors and administrators definitely deserve more money
than someone who simply catalogues books," said Pete Wadwich, a
second-year biology student.
Library officials said that Wadwich’s sentiment is a common one.
Even the administration, librarians said, is attempting to make the
librarians’ job seem less important than other faculty
positions.
"The administration is separating us from the academia," said
Ray Soto, a university librarian. "However, they’re forgetting that
the librarians are the ones who build the collections which are
used for research, and we are the ones who help students do their
research."
Overall, librarians said they were extremely upset with the
"unfair practices presented by the university," Maisner said.
"The administration is targeting the library because they think
we’re not aggressive about fighting for our rights," Maisner said.
"But we’re not a vulnerable group and we are certainly not going
down without a fight. This is just a beginning."
PATRICK LAM
About 40 people protested low pay raises for librarians during
the "UC Has No Heart" demonstration Wednesday.
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