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September, 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1 - CSEA Prepares for negotiations With the District |
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By Peggy Rhoads, chair of the negotiating committee, Chapter 36, CSEA
How economic woes and the war on terrorism have spawned an attack on working people.
On Labor Day, Monday, September 2, 10,000 union members marched through the streets of Wilmington, past hundreds of people lined up or sitting in beach chairs waiting for us. ILWU (International Longshore and Warehouse Union) led the march; they are getting ready for a work slow down, a lockout by the Shipping Association, and federal intervention in their contract negotiations. The U.S. government has said that because this is wartime, a strike by dockworkers is dangerous to “homeland security”. The federal government has threatened to bring in troops to move the freight and has warned it will restructure the bargaining unit so that all West Coast ports are not under the same contract.
The importance of this Labor Day march to us at Santa Monica College may not be immediately apparent to everyone. The 10,000 marchers in Wilmington this year represent all of us who live in an increasingly hostile environment for working people.
The "war on terrorism” and the impending war on Iraq, as well as the economic woes of the country, have led to an aggressive attack on labor, all in the name of national unity. The more money spent on these wars, the less money there will be for the needs of workers. The California state budget has ripped money from many groups: education, social programs, and health care in particular. Santa Monica College will follow this lead. The college has already made cutbacks in hiring and department budgets, which have severely affected faculty and staff workload and student services.
CSEA presented its initial proposal to the Board of Trustees in June. When we receive the District’s initial proposal at the Board meeting on September 9, we expect it to follow the example of schools, hospitals, and corporations nation-wide. When money is tight, take it out on the workers. This means faculty, staff, and students, most of who also work. Lay them off; speed them up; make them pay for their health benefits; give them no raises to pay for increasingly costly housing, education, and food. Some variation of this is what we expect from the district. We say that if they try to take away our hard-won contractual rights, they will be in for a tough battle.
The Faculty Association can make a difference in the outcome of the staff’s contract negotiations with the District. It’s not just about union solidarity. If we want to fight for our rights, especially in this period of economic downturns and war hysteria, it will take all of us to show our strength. The faculty can play an important part in supporting our efforts to keep our jobs and benefits, and in fact to make those jobs and benefits better! Just as we walked the picket lines with the faculty in their last negotiations and committed our Chapter to support the faculty's struggle, so we need the same kind of support in our negotiations. The faculty are our colleagues: they are under the same administration that we are, and they will face the same challenges when they enter into negotiations with the District in 2004. The students, as well, must become aware of the need for this struggle. The administration has cut library hours, restricted class offerings, and has begun charging for previously free service. This fight will be a fight for all of us: staff, faculty, students, and other unions who will benefit by our determination.
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