Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to attend union rally at UCLA
Sen. Bernie Sanders will speak at a rally for UPTE-CWA 9119, a union representing University of California research and technical workers. The union is striking against privatization in the UC, according to a UPTE press release. (Creative Commons photo by AFGE)
By Melissa Morris
March 12, 2019 1:33 p.m.
Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders will speak at a union rally at UCLA next week.
Sanders will speak at 12 p.m. March 20 at a rally for University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America 9119. The location of the rally is still being determined as of this story’s publication.
UPTE-CWA 9119, which represents about 14,000 research and technical workers in the University of California, is striking to challenge inequality and privatization at the UC, according to a UPTE press release.
Members of UPTE Healthcare and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents more than 25,000 patient care technicians and services in the UC, will join the strike in solidarity.
Dan Russell, president of the UC Office of the President and UC Berkeley branch of UPTE, said there will be at least one picket line at 757 Westwood Plaza, but other picket lines are still being arranged.
The union is advocating for “A UC For the Many, Not the Few,” which aligns with Sanders’ message of robust public services, Russell said.
Russell said the union is happy that Sanders is attending because his presence will draw attention to unions’ struggle with the UC.
“We think it’s really going to help draw the lines between the union and what we’re fighting for and what UC execs are pushing for,” Russell said.
The UC and UPTE have been in negotiations for 22 months.
