AFSCME organizes, sets laws, guidelines

By Brian Sullivan
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]

The largest union representing UCLA employees is attempting to
revive itself after struggling through nearly two decades of
disorganization and stagnation.

On July 9, Local 3299 ““ the University of California
chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees ““ ratified its first constitution by a 92-8 percent
margin.

AFSCME represents many of UCLA’s custodians, medical
housekeepers, bus drivers and other personnel who support daily
campus operations. Currently, the union is working with the UC
Office of the President in an attempt to unionize about 100
non-student ASUCLA workers presently hired through a
“temp” agency.

The constitution includes guidelines establishing terms of
office for union representatives and expanding the executive board,
enabling the union to provide representation on all UC campuses.
Currently, seven of the nine campuses, including UCLA, have a
representative.

“We had no constitution before,” said Margaret
Konjevod, a UCLA psychiatric technician and AFSCME member.
“There was nothing. People who came to work at UCLA
didn’t even know that they had a union.”

However, some members still feel that the union is out of
touch.

“We don’t know who is on the bargaining committee,
we don’t know the president,” said Charles Hardaway, an
Environmental Services employee at the UCLA medical center.

Hardaway and others are also skeptical of the latest efforts
towards reform and organization.

But union officials believe they are growing stronger and are
encouraging participation.

“We want to open up the union and breathe the breath of
reform,” said Craig Merrilees, director of Local 3299.

But the confidence of some union members is slow in coming. The
day after the election, complaints were made that the ratification
vote had been inconveniently scheduled and prevented many from
participating.

The campus polling site located at Schoenberg Hall was
originally scheduled to be open from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., but the
limited hours would fail to accommodate all work shifts.

Many members were not able to get to work early because their
commute takes too long, according to Maxine Harris, a UCLA
custodian and union member.

“Some people have to leave home at 2:30 to get to a 5:30
shift,” said Harris.

Recognizing the scheduling problem, vote organizers decided
later that day to keep the Schoenberg poll open until 8 p.m. in
order to accommodate those on the later shift.

Though union leaders tried to make the vote as accommodating as
possible, they were unable to secure a majority of voters. Only 24
percent of the 9,000 union members voted.

But the new constitution seems to be emblematic of the
union’s efforts to break from the past.

University employees formed Local 3299 under the AFSCME union in
the early 1980s after a decade of fighting with the UC over the
right to unionize.

But because so much energy had been spent in negotiation, union
officials say the final contract favored management. As a result,
for years the union’s presence was weak and many union
members felt neglected.

“Back in the ’80s through the late ’90s, the
union did not make dramatic progress, and so it was forced make
concessions to management,” Merrilees said.

Therefore many union members have felt the union was doing
little or actually taking advantage of them. Some members remain
skeptical of AFSCME and distrust these efforts at
reorganization.

“It’s like the blind leading the blind,” said
Hardaway.

Though feelings of discontent persist, most union members feel
the constitution is a sign of positive things to come, as reflected
in the large support for its ratification.

“Never heard too much about the union (before the vote).
Now we are more informed. There is a union,” said Jose
Salgado, a UCLA bus driver.