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BERKELEY, Calif.—During Nov. 18,
19 and 20, the University of California system shook
with one of the biggest strikes and mobilizations since the 1960s. The
UC has been using California’s budget cuts
as an opportunity to break unions, fire labor activists, furlough
professors, not re-hire lecturers, and increase student fees. The
actions centered primarily on the UC Los Angeles and Berkeley campuses,
but protests were also held at many of the other eight campuses.
Protests were organized to coincide with the UC Board of
Regents’ meeting in Los Angeles, directed at
the UC’s continued cutbacks and the threat of
a 32% fee hike—bringing undergraduate fees to $10,302.
Previously, on Sept.
24, 5000 people marched in Berkeley and several hundred at
each of the other UC campuses. A statewide mobilizing conference to
defend public education located on the UC Berkeley campus followed on
Oct. 24, which attracted about 750 people from all sectors of public
education, from K-12 through university level, from students to teachers
to workers. The conference voted to build for the Nov. 18-20 actions as
well as to unify with all sectors of public education on March 4 for a
unified statewide strike/day of action.
The actions were a combination strike and student
mobilization. On Nov. 18-19, UC Berkeley University Professional and
Technical Employees Local 9119 went on strike, with locals from the AFT
and Coalition of University Employees joining them.
On Nov. 18, UC Berkeley pickets arrived at 5 a.m., and 50 construction workers refused to
cross the picket lines. A rally of 2500 was held at noon, and an energetic march proceeded
through the city to Berkeley High School and Berkeley City College. In the
evening, some protesters occupied an administrative building but were
quickly removed by police.
On the 19th, pickets began at 5
a.m. again, but apparently management or union bureaucrats had
intimidated the construction workers and they went to work. At noon the unions led a march around campus to
various administrators’ offices to demand meetings. Teach-ins had been
organized that day by faculty and students, but the police shut down
one of the spaces in which they were planned, thus blocking many of the
educational activities.
During the afternoon, word was received that the Board of
Regents had voted to increase student fees. Anger and frustration
spread rapidly. At an evening mass meeting, the majority of students
voted to occupy campus buildings the next day—as had occurred in Los Angeles and Santa Cruz. A mass rally
and march to the police station to denounce their violations of free
speech was also planned.
On Friday, Nov. 20, militancy exploded. Some students
began to occupy Wheeler Hall, one of the central buildings on campus.
The cops were there at 6 a.m. and blocked off
the vicinity with yellow tape. Three of the occupiers were arrested in
the early morning, and two were beaten by the cops.
By 11 a.m., about 1000
angry students had massed around Wheeler Hall, effectively shutting
down a whole section of the campus with their picket line. By noon, it was raining hard, but that didn’t
scare people away. Police from the cities of Berkeley and Oakland were brought
in, as were Alameda County Sheriff deputies, all suited in riot gear
and armed with batons, rubber bullets, plastic handcuffs, and tear gas.
Chants were spirited, including a very funny one directed
at the riot cops: “You’re sexy, you’re cute, take off that riot suit!”
as well as “No cuts, no fees, education should be free!” “Lay off Yudof [president of the UC]!” “UC regents, I see
tyrants!” “Whose university? Our university!”
The 40 Wheeler Hall occupiers came up with four demands
that were not the demands of the movement but ones they felt could be
fulfilled by the Berkeley administration: Rehire the 38 laid-off AFSCME
janitors, amnesty for the occupiers and others who were arrested during
the protest, maintain the low-income housing in the Roachdale
cooperative, and renew a storefront lease to immigrant-owned food
venders at the previous rate. The first demand illustrates the main
strength of the movement right now: the strong unity forged between
workers and students.
The police and the administration eventually realized that
instead of dissipating, the crowd was actually growing. Throughout the
day, thousands of students joined in the rally and denounced the
administration and their police lackeys.
At about 8 p.m., the 40
occupiers began to be released, the police chief agreeing not to arrest
them but “only” to issue misdemeanor trespassing citations for
occupying a public building at their own school. None of the demands
the occupiers had raised were met. However, as they exited the building
in groups of three, they were greeted by huge cheers.
The demonstrations and strike are a direct challenge to
the UC administration’s privatization schemes (promising future fee
hikes as collateral), as well as to the state of California’s antisocial
priorities in the face of the economic crisis. Students, workers, and
teachers are determinedly fighting back.
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