UC Workers facing poverty wages
Service Workers at UC are getting the short end of the stick, for sure. Despite administrators and coaches receiving over half a million dollars a year, many of the folks who clean the building and maintain the University’s facilities face poverty-level wages.
AFSCME 3299 recently sent us a way to hear some of the stories of the people who do the low-paid work of keeping the Universities going.
Service workers at the University of California have been collectively fighting for more than a year to improve their lives by ending years of poverty wages. As many as 96% of UC service workers can qualify for at least one form of public assistance. Service workers are now inviting you into their homes to see the impact of poverty wages on their lives and their families.
Over the next few weeks, we will go across the state from campuses to medical centers and visit workers in their homes with faith leaders and elected officials to hear their stories about facing poverty. In the past few weeks, State Senator Christine Kehoe, Assembly member Jose Solario, Chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee Anthony Portentino, Madre Patricia Andrews-Callori, and Rabbi Laurie Coskey have visited workers in their homes. When visiting with UCSD custodian Maria Moreno, Senator Kehoe said, “What we have is a problem where lower wage workers on the campuses and the hospitals, like yourself, are not making enough to survive.” To see this virtual tour of UC created poverty, visit www.FacingPovertyAtUC.org
We here at the Quezada for D9 Supervisor campaign have been working with AFSCME to push for a living wage for UC Workers, and Eric will continue to do so when he’s in office.
