Strikes Planned at UC Berkeley by Clerical Workers, Lecturers

UC Berkeley is girding for labor walkouts beginning Monday, the first day of the fall semester, but university officials say that classes will begin as scheduled.

The biggest job action is planned for Monday through Wednesday by the Coalition of University Employees, which represents 2,300 clerical workers at UC Berkeley and at the nearby UC administrative office in Oakland.

The union is calling the walkout to protest a breakdown in negotiations on a new labor contract.

Another union also is protesting its bogged-down negotiations with the UC system.

The UC Council of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 450 nontenured lecturers at UC Berkeley, plans a one-day walkout for Wednesday and will urge students to join in the strike.

The clerical union is seeking a 15% pay raise over two years, and the lecturers union is seeking greater job security.

The UC system said it doesn’t have the money to cover pay increases, and it accused the unions of preparing to strike illegally, because they had not exhausted the state bargaining process.

The California Nurses Assn. said it plans to hold a “sympathy strike” in support of the clerical workers and lecturers unions.

Its 50 to 60 campus health center employees plan a three-day walkout beginning Monday.

Nevertheless, UC officials said they expect minimal disruption on the 32,500-student campus.

“We really expect pretty close to normal operations on campus,” said Marie Felde, a UC Berkeley spokeswoman.

She dismissed the possibility that the clerical workers’ walkout would lead to problems for students seeking to switch courses.

She said the university’s online registration system can handle the changes.

Felde said that other faculty are considering covering classes taught by the nontenured lecturers.

She added that enough medical personnel will be available to handle urgent care and drop-in visits at the health center.

The snarled contract negotiations with both the clerical and lecturers unions involve employees throughout the nine-campus University of California system.

But UC Berkeley was chosen for the walkouts because it is the first to start fall classes. The other UC campuses, including UCLA, begin classes in mid-to late September.