UC workers deserve more pay, chance to advance

They are the people who keep UCLA running. They clean the
bathrooms, serve the food, and drive the buses. But many of them
earn less than a living wage and have little possibility for
advancement. The University of California must acknowledge the
value of its service workers and ensure their ability to support
themselves and their families.

The UC and workers of the American Federation of State, County,
and Municipal Employees have been locked in a seven- month long
negotiation, but so far little progress has been made.

According to union documents, the median UC service worker earns
$12.05 an hour. Twenty-two percent of the 7,000 UC service workers
earn less than $10 an hour.

Compared to the cost of living in California, these figures are
disturbingly low. The California Budget Project estimates that the
living wage for one parent in a four-person family, in areas around
UC campuses, ranges from $13.18 to $16.88. Here at UCLA the union
reports that food service workers earn an average of $15,600.

The union also says the UC does not allow service workers to
advance to management positions. Instead, the UC looks to outside
recruitment for its higher-paying jobs.

For an organization that prides itself on forward thinking and
social responsibility, this is an unacceptable way to treat
workers.

And for a university system with total operational expenditures
exceeding $15 billion a year, it seems that a few million more
could be found to set the example that all workers should earn a
living wage.

These individuals are as important to the UC system as any other
administrator or staff member. And in many ways, the work they do
is just as important ““ sometimes more important ““ than
the work done in between the endless layers of bureaucracy at this
university.

How would UCLA students and faculty feel if they awoke one
morning to find the shuttles stopped, the toilets plugged, and the
breakfast bagels cold?

California is a wealthy state, but it is also an expensive state
to live in. It is one thing to earn $10 in a rural area in the
middle of the country and another thing to earn $10 in the heart of
Los Angeles.

However, facing state cut budgets and with a limited supply of
money, the UC might not realistically be able to increase the wages
of AFSCME workers to the levels they are immediately demanding.
(Though perhaps Gov. Schwarzenegger can finally uncover some of the
“waste” he promised to terminate during his
campaign.)

But the issue is a matter of principle as much as economics
““ these workers deserve to earn enough to support their
families and live in modest comfort.

The UC should show good faith by negotiating an initial wage
increase during the current round of discussions with the
union.