Boycott Speakers at UC Berkeley in Solidarity with Workers

We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with subcontracted workers at UC Berkeley and endorse the Speakers Boycott for which they have called. Nearly 100 of these workers, employed by American Building Management, LAZ Parking, and Performance First, launched an insourcing campaign in August 2015: demanding formal inclusion into the UC Berkeley workforce and the wages, benefits and protections that come with direct university employment.

Despite performing the same tasks as their UC-employed counterparts, workers subcontracted through the three private companies are paid a fraction of the wage: as little as $9.30/hr in a city where the minimum wage is $11/hr. Many of them are forced to work second and third jobs, and some work up to 190 hours every two weeks without any overtime pay – sometimes working 32 hours in a row. Not only are they largely (when not completely) denied access to healthcare, sick days, vacation days, and retirement, they are also routinely subjected to various forms of abuse. Subcontracted parking attendants have filed wage-theft claims totaling more than $40,000 in the past eight months alone. Custodians who have worked in UC Berkeley’s labs for over fifteen years bear scars where they have been cut by broken glass and burned by spilled chemicals because they were not provided gloves or adequate equipment. Women who have been sexually harassed and assaulted while working on campus describe how the abuses continued, sometimes for months, because they knew they would be fired if they reported them.

When these workers began organizing, they were subject to intimidation and retaliation. Their claims to compensation equal to that of UC employees have been repeatedly dismissed on the grounds that they are “temporary” laborers. But the average subcontracted custodian has worked at UC Berkeley for eight years. A number of the workers organizing have poured more than twenty years of their lives into this institution. They are not only vital to the day-to-day functioning of the University, but integral members of the campus community.

As members of the various communities to which these workers belong, we stand with them in endorsing the Speakers Boycott of UC Berkeley, and will continue to do so until each and every one of them has been brought in house.
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Nosotros, los abajofirmantes, en solidaridad con los trabajadores subcontratados de UC Berkeley, endosamos El Boicot que los Oradores han lanzado. Casi 100 de estos trabajadores, empleados por American Building Management, LAZ Parking, y Performance First, lanzaron esta campana en Agosto de 2015: exigiendo inclusion formal en la poblacion laboral de UC Berkeley y tambien los salarios, beneficios y protecciones que vienen con el empleo directo.

A pesar de realizar las mismas tareas que sus contrapartes empleados por UC, los trabajadores subcontratados por las tres companias privadas se les pagan una fraccion del salario: tan poco como $9.30/hr en una ciudad donde el salario minimo es $11/hr. Muchos de ellos son obligados a trabajar dos o tres trabajos, y algunos trabajan hasta 190 horas cada quincena sin pago de horas extras - a veces trabajando 32 horas corridas. No solo son negados acceso a la asistencia medica, dias de enfermedad, dias de vacaciones y el retiro, tambien son sujetados a diversas formas de abuso con frecuencia. Los guardacoches subcontratados han presentado reclamos por un total de mas que $40,000 en los ultimos ocho meses. Los custodios quienes han trabajado en los laboratorios de UC Berkeley mas que quince anos tienen cicatrices donde han sido cortados por vidrio roto y quemados por quimicos derramados porque no recibieron guantes ni equipo adecuado. Mujeres que han sido acosadas y agredidas mientras trabajando en campus describen como continuaban los abusos, a veces durante meses, porque sabian ellas que serian despedidas si los reportaban.

Cuando comenzaron estos trabajadores a organizar, fueron sujetados a intimidacion y represalias. Sus reclamos a compenscaion igual a la de los empleados por UC han sido rechazados a causa de que son trabajadores "temporales." Pero un custodio subcontratado al medio ha trabajado en UC Berkeley por ocho anos. Varios trabajadores que organizan han vertido mas de veinte anos de sus vidas en esta institucion. No solamente son esenciales para el funcionamiento diario de la Universidad, sino que son miembros integrales de la comunidad del campus.

Como miembros de las varias comunidades de que son partes estos trabajadores, nos levantamos consigos endosando El Boicot de los Oradores de UC Berkeley, y continuaremos hacerlo hasta que todos y cada uno sean empleados directamente por la Universidad.