Minneapolis, MN – Roughly 70 University of Minnesota students, faculty, staff and community members rallied together on May 11 outside McNamara Alumni Center, where the governing Board of Regents met to discuss finance and operations amidst brutal budget cuts and job-cutting measures.

The “Board of Regents: Chop from the Top! Rally” was organized by the Students, Staff and Faculty United coalition, including AFSCME 3800 clerical workers, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the UMN Graduate Labor Union – UE (GLU-UE), and the UMN chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).

“We are in a pitched battle for the future direction of this public institution and really for higher education as a whole,” said AFSCME 3800 president, Cherrene Horazuk, “On the one side, we have the students, grad workers, staff and faculty who are committed to the mission of research, teaching and service. On the other side are the fat cat administrators and corporate interests who want to get rich off this public institution.”

In March of this year, the university requested an unprecedented $97.5 million in addition to the original request for $205 million. “It’s a money grab,” says Horazuk, commenting on the historic and increasing greed of the university and the noted surplus in the Minnesota legislature. When making these requests, the university threatened huge budget cuts and increased raises to student tuition. [See note 1 below]

In April, the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts informed departments of dire cuts to instructional budgets, the same budgets that pay contingent faculty and graduate students. Cuts would amount to roughly 11% across the board, with some departments seeing a criminal 50% cut. According to the Department of English Senior Lecturer Eric Daigre, a member of AAUP, 30% of the university’s resources were devoted to instruction in 2008, but that number has yet to rise above 23% since. With so little funding to liberal arts classes, instructors have become “the gig workers of academia,” according to Daigre. [2]

These cuts come after a landmark unionizing vote among graduate student workers, who must now negotiate their contract while struggling to pay their bills. Meanwhile 612 administrators at the U make more than Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Twenty administrators make even more than the president of the United States.

Referencing a conversation earlier this week between Provost Croson and the Council of Graduate Students, Cal Mergendahl, an organizer with the Graduate Labor Union, said, “We’re told that we should be grateful for the fact that we need to go into credit card debt to live off our stipends, that we should be grateful for having bosses that drive us to tears, that we should be grateful to be paying back two paychecks a year to our employer in student fees – this from someone who makes half a million dollars a year.”

In 2012, The Wall Street Journal ran a scathing article regarding bloated, high-paid administrations in the midst of skyrocketing tuition, which pointed out the U of M as a prime example. The Minnesota legislature demanded cutbacks on administrative costs, but rather than cut top salaries, the U hired Huron Consulting Group, a top-three corporate consulting firm that specializes in higher education.

Huron is now pushing a disastrous, corporatizing PEAK initiative, which promises to ensure a “human-centered approach to how services are delivered on campus” and prioritize an “equitable and inclusive employee experience.” In truth, PEAK plans to move frontline clerical jobs out of the colleges and into soul-crushing centralized positions, away from coworkers into jobs with singular, paper-pushing functions. While they claim the intention is not to create layoffs, it is unlikely jobs won’t be lost amidst the confusion and lack of leadership. [3]

In response to this initiative, a central slogan of the rally was “Pause on PEAK! Not one job lost!” Other demands included “Chop from the top!” “Cut admin, not classes,” and “Tell the Board of Regents to fully fund CLA – not their own pockets!” referencing towering upper administrative salaries. “This isn’t a budget crisis,” said Eric Daigre, “It’s a distribution crisis!”

Students for a Democratic Society added, “Defend Ethnic and Gender Studies!” following earlier, leaked plans for cuts as large as 50% to American Indian Studies, 30% to Chicano and Latino Studies, 27.5% to African and African American Studies, 10% to Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, among others. “These cuts were only backtracked after SDS led an action demanding these programs be fully funded,” said SDS member, Gillian Rath. “Even now, they still intend to make cuts and we need to keep up the pressure.”

Audrianna Goodwin of the TRUTH Project pointed out the university was unwilling to provide funding. The TRUTH Project, which stands for Towards Recognition and University-Tribal Healing, recently released their final report, titled Oshkigin Noojimo'iwe, Naġi Waƞ P̣etu Uƞ Ihduwaṡ'ake He Oyate Kiƞ Zaniwic̣aye Kte, which details the systemic exploitation and oppression of indigenous peoples by the University of Minnesota. The report offers clear steps for the university to restore that relationship, and yet the University of Minnesota leadership has yet to make any public comment on the report.

After the rally, Students for a Democratic Society led a disruption of the Board of Regents meeting to demand protections for academic programs like American Indian Studies. “It is disgusting and shameful that the university is trying to save money in the budget by attacking the vital, important, and hard-won programs,” said Gillian Rath after standing up during the Board of Regents meeting.

In response, disruptors were threatened with arrest and followed out of the building. This indicates a nationwide trend toward increased policing and repression of protesters in response to cuts to academic programs, in particular ethnic studies and DEI programs, as notably seen with the arrest of the Tampa 5 at the University of South Florida. To fight this, organizers highlighted the need for the university campus to stand together to win the fight against austerity and the further corporatization of the U.

[1] Maia Irvin. “UMN Requests $205M from State.” The Minnesota Daily, February 2, 2023.

[2] “Statement on CLA Instructional Cuts.” April 25, 2023.

[3] Douglas Belkin and Scott Thurm. “Cost of College: Colleges’ Bureaucracy Expands Costs.” The Wall Street Journal, December 31, 2012.

#MinneapolisMN #ChopFromTheTop

Chicago, IL – 1100 faculty members at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) went on strike, Feb. 18, to demand a fair contract. Several rallies drew 500 strikers and their supporters to the middle of campus.

These members of Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) Local 6456 showed a high degree of solidarity. Issues in the strike include a wage increase for the entire bargaining unit, but also a minimum salary for the non-tenured full-time lecturers – teachers with PhDs currently earning only $30,000 a year. IFT Local 6456 is demanding a $45,000 minimum for them.

The union points to the wrong priorities in place at the university, where tuition has risen 25% since 2007 and where the school has over $1 billion in reserves, but where faculty are not paid what they are worth. Most professors have gone two years without raises. Three years ago, their pay was docked through the use of furlough days.

IFT leaders blame the Board of Trustees and University President Bob Easter. Joe Persky, president of UIC United Faculty, said in a statement, “The administration’s priorities don’t match the University’s mission, and after trying to negotiate a fair contract for eighteen months, they’ve left us no choice but to strike.”

UIC looks more and more like a corporation each year. The IFT notes that the number of administrators has increased by 10%, while tenured faculty positions have decreased by 1% in recent years. In response to this, one of the chants heard from picketers has been, “Chop from the top!”

#ChicagoIL #ChopFromTheTop #UniversityOfIllinoisChicago #tuitionHikes #teachersStrike #workersRights #IFTLocal6456

Minneapolis, MN – Members of AFSCME Local 3800, clerical workers at the University of Minnesota, filled the room here, June 5, testifying at a Board of Regents’ public forum on the university budget. The clerical workers spoke about how they have been impacted by administrative bloat and tuition hikes. Some of the 25 workers laid off last week attended the hearing.

Cherrene Horazuk, President of AFSCME Local 3800, told the regents, “Create a truly world class university that pays all workers a livable wage, not a poverty wage for many and luxury wages for a few. A university that recognizes and respects the work that is done and the people that do it. A university that can’t be called the university of haves and have nots. It’s long past time to chop from the top.”

In her testimony, Melanie Steinman, chief steward of AFSCME Local 3800, condemned the recent layoffs at the U of M.

Chris Getowicz of Students for a Democratic Society also testified, saying “Students overwhelmingly voted for our referendum last semester calling for increased budget transparency, student voice in tuition and fee decision, and a 10% salary cut for the 167 administrators making over $200,000. My tuition dollars should go towards education, not administration.”

#MinneapolisMN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #BudgetCuts #UniversityOfMinnesota #AFSCME3800 #ChopFromTheTop

Milwaukee, WI – Students for a Democratic Society’s call for a National Day of Action to Defend Public Education was answered by the Education Rights Coalition, Milwaukee SDS, undergraduate and graduate students, union members and community members who rallied on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, March 14.

At present the U.S. government spends about $128 billion on education, a meager amount compared to the $851 billion military budget. Additionally, student loan debt has surpassed $1 trillion, more than the U.S.’s level of credit card debt.

Rallying in Spaights Plaza (during midterm examination week), students held signs like “Chop from the top!” and “Education is a right!” and a large banner that read “Fund education not occupation!”

Tiffany Strong from SDS, Jorge Maya from Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES), and Gilbert Johnson, Vice President of AFSCME 82, gave personal testimony to the rising cost of education and its unaffordability, especially for disabled, undocumented, poor and oppressed nationality students.

Gerardo Alvarado, an organizer from Youth Empowered in the Struggle, said, “Until scholarships are available for undocumented people the rates for immigrant students attending college will be low.”

After rallying in Spaights Plaza, the demonstrators marched to present their list of demands to Chancellor Michael Lovell and Vice Chancellor Michael Laliberte at Chapman Hall.

Reminiscent of a protest a couple years back when 15 students were arrested in a standoff with UWM police outside Chapman Hall, the coalition members were met once again with a locked building guarded by university police. A sign on the north entrance read “No admittance! Use east entrance!” When asked if they could enter as a group a police officer replied “not today!” as he let in individual staff members.

Protesters refused to leave until an administrator met with them and received their demands. They then were greeted by another officer and Dean of Students Jim Hill, who asked for a representative and who claimed they did not know where the chancellor and vice chancellor were. Hill insisted he would present the demands to the chancellors himself. After stating the demands of the protest in a mic-check outside Chapman Hall, the coalition members marched back to Spaights Plaza where they held several more mic-checks in and around the student union, again announcing their demands.

The Education Rights Coalition presented the following demands: that all student loans be forgiven; chop military spending and more money for Pell grants; Increased availability of scholarships for disabled, undocumented, poor and oppressed nationality students; and increased availability of funds for state employees.

#MilwaukeeWI #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #EducationRights #ChopFromTheTop #EducationRightsCoalition

Minneapolis, MN – About 40 students and campus workers rallied at Morrill Hall and marched through the University of Minnesota (U of M) campus on March 14 to protest rising tuition costs and the university’s top-heavy administration. The protest was part of a national day of action for education rights.

The U of M administration has come under fire recently for having too many highly-paid top level administrators and too few front line workers and for raising tuition year after year. The unions at the U of M have made these points repeatedly for years. In December, a Wall Street Journal investigative reporter caught on to the story and wrote an in-depth expose on high-level administrative bloat at the U of M, which happened amidst a decade of skyrocketing tuition and layoffs of front line workers. This threw the administration into a tailspin as the Minnesota state legislature held hearings to question President Kaler about it. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton made the university’s funding appropriation in the new budget contingent on an outside audit of the university administration’s priorities.

In her speech at the protest, Michelle Spivey of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) said that at the U of M, “There is one administrator for every 3.5 students. On the other hand there is only one faculty member – or one professor – for every 16 students. It is unacceptable to support a bloated administration at the expense of students! Education is a right and students like you and me have had enough!”

The protest was organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the U of M clerical worker union, AFSCME Local 3800. The protest was also endorsed by the Women’s Student Activist Collective (WSAC) and La Raza Student Cultural Center.

U of M union leaders spoke at the rally, including Cherrene Horazuk, president of AFSCME Local 3800 and Barb Bezat of AFSCME Local 3937.

Horazuk told rally participants, “We will continue to speak out against administrative excesses and the increasing corporatization of the U. We will continue to fight to ensure that this university is a university for the 99%, not the 1%. We will continue to demand that the U chop from the top.”

Students who spoke included Grace Kelly, representing graduate students, and Katherine Soenke from the Women’s Student Activist Collective.

#MinneapolisMN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #EducationRights #UniversityOfMinnesota #ChopFromTheTop #tuitionHikes

Minneapolis, MN – University of Minnesota students gathered for a press conference Oct. 20 outside the administration building. The event, organized by Students for a Democratic Society, focused on Students for a Democratic Society’s ongoing campaign for education rights and challenged the administration’s attacks on student cultural centers currently occupying space in the campus student union. Speakers included members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), La Raza Student Cultural Center, the American Indian Student Cultural Center, Al-Madinah Cultural Center, the Queer Student Cultural Center, and the Women’s Student Activist Collective.

The diverse student groups united around four demands for President Bruininks: No more tuition or fee hikes, no more layoffs of University support staff or faculty, transparency now and end the attacks on cultural centers.

The first three demands have been ongoing since SDS began their education rights campaign a year and a half ago, with a banner drop at freshman convocation in the fall of 2009. At the press conference, SDS member Kira Downey explained, “This is a federally funded land-grant institution meant to be…inclusive of all peoples…[but] tuition has raised over 150% in the last ten years and students are dropping out.” Downey continued, “The students are the essence of the university. It could not succeed without us. So there must be complete transparency in all the decisions being made and we deserve power in this decision making.”

The fourth demand is a response to the Student Union & Activities recent assertions that the cultural centers now occupying the second floor of the student union may be evicted from that space. The SUA Board of Governors is currently considering whether there should be “turnover” with regards to student groups occupying second floor rooms, citing space needs for other student groups. “With the numerous remodeling projects taking place on campus, systematic building of student group space is never discussed,” countered Al-Madinah member, James Faghmous. “While we believe that student groups deserve more space, it shouldn’t be at the expense of active cultural centers that meet all university requirements in terms of room usage and openness to the general student body.”

American Indian Student Cultural Center director Lorna Her Many Horses defended the their right to their current space, citing the fact that their second floor room was designed specifically to meet the needs of American Indian cultural practices, such as sage burning.

Women’s Student Activist Collective and Queer Student Cultural Center member Natalie Clifford spoke of her organizations’ contributions to the student union community as spaces in which students can feel safe regardless of their sexual or gender orientation.

Uriel Rosales, board member of La Raza, the Chicano cultural center, reminded listeners of the struggle for education rights for undocumented immigrants: “We cannot even begin talking about equality in education, when there are students who are being systematically denied the opportunity to receive education.”

Attacks on cultural centers at the University of Minnesota are ominous, as are budget cuts to departments like Chicano studies in the wake of Arizona state legislation outlawing ethnic studies this past summer. “As we speak, Ethnic Studies across the country are under attack. This is the systematic silencing of the people’s history, the systematic challenge to our agency and the regression of society as a whole,” declared Rosales.

The press conference ended with the students delivering their demands to university President Bruininks, requesting a meeting with the president in the coming weeks.

#MinneapolisMN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #EducationRights #ChopFromTheTop

Chicago, IL – Around 200 workers, students, and special guests from the Illinois state legislature came out for an energized protest against the Board of Trustees meeting, May 20, at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Protestors demanded that the incoming University of Illinois president Michael Hogan turn down his $170,000 raise, chanting, “Chop from the Top!” Members of SEIU Local 73 in conjunction with the coalition UIC-ABC (Against Budget Cuts) organized the picket and rally.

The protest came on the heels of a recent announcement that the new University of Illinois president Hogan is to receive a whopping 37% increase in salary, totaling $620,000 a year, while workers are still struggling for a fair contract, and students’ tuition was hiked up by nearly 10% the same day of the protest.

“It is insulting on the day the University of Illinois is going to raise tuition — they are going to give a salary increase to the new president,” said state Sen. Martin Sandoval. “This is supposed to be an institution for the working class and poor!” he exclaimed later.

Regina Russell, a clerical worker and member of Local 73’s executive board, asked, “If the university UIC is in a budget crisis, but they can hire a president making so much more money, where is our fair share?” 2700 members of Local 73 have been without contracts at UIC for almost a year, have faced layoffs and the threat of unpaid furlough days. In April, the clerical workers voted overwhelmingly to strike if an agreement is not reached at the bargaining table.

Kait McIntyre from UIC Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) also condemned the rising tuition costs and cuts to basic student services. “The University of Illinois system has made it quite clear that they value profits for the rich above the students, teachers, and workers of UIC. They consider education a business rather than a basic right.”

Undergraduate students and those from the Graduate Employee Organization traveled from Urbana-Champaign to attend the protest. Chicago SDS members and activists from downstate pledged to network and form a statewide coalition of graduate workers, staff, and undergrad students to continue to fight for higher education in Illinois.

Workers and students vowed to stay united and protest until fair contracts are won, and UIC freezes its tuition. Many cited the massive protests for education rights on March 4 this year, and look forward to pressing the struggle forward.

#ChicagoIL #CapitalismAndEconomy #Labor #UIC #SEIULocal73 #ChopFromTheTop #UICABCAgainstBudgetCuts #UICStudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS

Chicago Il.– El nuevo gobernador de Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, anunció que el presupuesto estatal falta $5 mil millones de dolares, una semana despues de tomar las riendas de poder.

Todo mundo pregunta ¿Como sucedió esto? Según la organización “Citizens for Tax Justice”, este deficit se debe a dos cosas: En primer lugar, en Illinois los ricos pagan menos impuestos estatales que en todos los otros estados menos cuatro. En segundo, en una recesión la totalidad de los impuestos que se recogen es menos.

Los empleados de la Universidad de Illinois in Chicago (UIC) saben una tercera causa. Antes que nos azotó la recesión “los jefes celebraban una pachanga” dice Tom terranova, principal negociador para 900 trabajadores secretariales en la UIC representados por el local 73 del Sindicato Internacional de Empleados de Servicios (SEIU por sus siglas en inglés). Hizo referencia a una investigación llevada a cabo para el sindicato por el Centro Para Analisis de Política Económica, que discubrió que los maximos jefes adminstrativos en dicha universidad han aumentado sus propios sueldos mas que los aumentos salariales de los demas empleados universitarios durante los últimos diez años. Para los 1 porciento de los jefes que se encuentran in los niveles mas altos, sus sueldos han subido de un promedio de $150,000 anuales , a $250,000.

Los empleados se molestaron especialmente cuando se enteraron que un poco antes de que lo crítico de la situación presupuestuaria fue hecho público, muchos administradores de alto rango recibieron aumentos del último momento. Luego cuando se hizo la declaración de la crisis, se hicieron tambien llamados para cortar el personal. Los grandes aumentos de los jefes no fueron retirados. Dice Terranova que como respuesta a esta crisis “La Administración de la UIC y sus socios políticos en Springfield desean balancear al presupuesto en las espaldas de los empleados”.

Los empleados en local 73 tienen la respuesta a estos ataques: ¡Que corten la “carne de puerco”!

El 12 de Febrero mas de 100 empleados de la UIC y sus apoyadores desfilaron a la reunión de La Junta de Fiscales. Luz Martinez, una integrante del comité de negociaciones, le dijo a los canales de televisión en español 44 y 66 “La administración ha cortado empleos y ha congelado a nuestros salarios. Ya tenemos mucho mas trabajo que hacer. No es justo que nos niegen aumentos”.

Shirley McIntosh, una delegada sindical, dijo a la conferencia de prensa: “Cuando nosotros sufrimos, los pacientes y los estudiantes que dependen de nuestros servicios, sufren tambien”. Sirlena Perry, otra integrante del comité de negociaciones, agregó “una congelación salarial es una reducción salarial, cuando se toma en cuenta que no se han congelado las cuentas que tenemos que pagan. Se aumentaron los costos de estacionamento, de calefacción, de gasolina, como de todo”.

Se llamó la marcha para aumentos salariales y un contrato justo para los trabajadores secretariales. Ademas las pancartas de los manifestantes condenaron los aumentos absurdos de los jefes.

“Estos administradores dicen que todo mundo tiene que apretar el cinturon para aguantar los tiempos difíciles” dijo Christine Boardman, presidente del local 73. “Pero todo el peso cae sobre los empleados. Los salarios y gastos de la alta administración no han sido afectados”.

La presidente Boardman refería a un escándalo que ultimamente ha sido revelado por la prensa. La Junta de Sindicos ha gastado mas de $500 millones para rentar aviones particulares para llevar sus miembros a reuniones y eventos deportivos. Esto fue una insulta adicional. Pero el problema principal no ha sido estsos privilegios. Es que la inflación de los salarios de los administradores le ha costado $25 millones a la universidad en los últimos 10 años.

En el medio de los cortes presupuestuarios, el local 73 ha luchado para defender a los intereses de nuestros miembros en varias frentes de batalla. Se venció el contrato en Agosto, y en las negociaciones para un contrato nuevo, el comité de negociaciones ha buscado mas seguridad de trabajos y para defender a lo ganado en los contratos en el pasado. El sindicato tambien ha buscado legislación, como por ejemplo que el presupuesto de la universidad fuera revisada linea por linea, para asi identificar mejor los posibles ahorros que podrían dirigirse a los salarios de los empleados.

Como resultado del escándalo público y las protestas, los empeados ganaron la concesión de una audiencia sobre nuestras quejas de las inequidades aquí. Ahora, junto con los esfuerzos legislativos, se ha ganado una victoria inicial. Los empleados secretariales ganaron una continuación de aumentos por escalas para este años. Hace años, este tipo de aumentos fueron un derecho que gozaba todo empleado de servicio civil. A los comienzos de los 1990, fueron eliminados para todos los trabajadores. Los trabajadores sindicalizados lucharon para retomarlos en 1993. Retener estos aumentos por escala significa que la mayoría de los miembros del local 73 recibirán un aumento de 4% en la fecha de su aniversario. Pero algunos miembros del local ya han llegado al máximo nivel y no recibirán ningun aumento por escala, de modo que la lucha para un aumento en un contrato justo seguirá.

Cortes de Trabajos y Ataques a los Derechos por Antigüedad.

Lo que la gerencia dio en cantidades pequeñas, buscan retomar en cantidades grandes. Todavia amenazan con 1,200 empleos cortados en toda el sistema de la Universidad de Illinois. Lo peor es que los negociadores de la administración pretenden eliminar las protecciones para los empleados con antigüedad en el trabajo. Sería posible que los administradores de departamentos despidan empleados con muchos años de servicio para traer a gente nueva.

Local 73 responde con una lucha para salvar a nuestros trabajos. Esto involucra en parte acción por parte de los miembros. Tambien se planea un esfuerzo para poner fin al abuso de los trabajadores de “Extra Help”, o sea empleados temporales que no reciben beneficios y trabajan muchos años sin ser colocados en un puesto permanente.

“La lucha sigue” dice Glenda Searcy, otro miembro del comité de negociaciones. “Estamos luchando para todos nuestros miembros, por seguridad en el trabajo y para un aumeto para todo el mundo. Si tienen que seguir sin aumento, las vidas de nuestros miembros se verán afectados. Tenemos que seguir luchando”

#ChicagoIL #News #BudgetCrisis #SEIU #ChopFromTheTop #UniversityOfIllinoisAtChicagoUIC #executivePay #jobCuts

Workers are starting to put up a fight. The Illinois Association of Hispanic State Employees has called for an April 24 rally at the State House in Springfield. Their message: “Say 'No!' to cutbacks and 'Yes!' to protecting our jobs and communities!”

At a press conference on March 4, Carmen Flores-Rance, president of the Illinois Association of Hispanic State Employees, told 50 workers, “We have to speak as one. These cuts cannot hurt our community.”

Governor Ryan wants to make cuts in the Department of Human Services, the Board of Education, and other departments. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which represents these workers, is putting up stiff resistance.

Next Target: University of Illinois

Now the knife is in the hands of President James Stukel of the University of Illinois. On March 7, he announced 600 more jobs will go. He is demanding another 10% hike in student tuition, or he says the job cuts will increase to 900.

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73 joined with University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) students in a rally on Feb. 20 to oppose the tuition increase.

In addition to the threat to their jobs, UIC clerical workers received another threat on March 13. Chancellor Sylvia Manning told everyone at UIC, “At present we expect that there will be no salary increase program per se for fiscal year '03.”

The contract for 1200 customer service representatives, secretaries and clerks expires in August 2002. Clerical workers face an uphill battle for decent raises when they get to the bargaining table. “We need to prepare for a fight,” said Tom Terranova, SEIU Local 73 negotiator.

The UIC Board of Trustees will meet on May 15 and 16 in Chicago to vote on the budget cuts. Shirley McIntosh, a clerical steward, said, “We'll have to tell them to chop from the top – that's where the fat is at UIC.”

The university has an overgrown top layer of bosses. One hundred of the top administrators draw a salary greater than the governor's. Top management has grown larger in the last 20 years, and their salaries have ballooned. For example, the dean of the College of Medicine was paid $150,000 a year in 1990. Today, he makes over $400,000 a year.

Make the Rich Pay

Illinois has had a decade of record tax collections, but the rich haven't been paying their share. AFSCME Council 31 is calling for putting more taxes on the rich. This is the right thing to do. According to Matthew Gardner of Citizens for Tax Justice, “The Illinois tax system, more so than most other states, already goes very easy on the wealthy. There are loopholes in place already that make the tax burden on the wealthiest Illinoisans lower than on any other income group.” In fact, Illinois has the fifth lowest tax “burden” on the rich and corporations of any of the 50 states.

John Ayala, a UIC worker and activist, supported the call for the April 24 rally. He said, “We have to go to Springfield to send a message that they can't balance their budget on our backs.”

#ChicagoIL #News #BudgetCuts #ChopFromTheTop

Chicago, IL – The state of Illinois is $5 billion in the red, according to new governor, Rod Blagojevich, who made the announcement one week after he took office in January.

Everyone is asking, “How did this happen?” According to the group Citizens for Tax Justice, the state budget shortfall happened because of two things. First, rich people in Illinois pay lower taxes than in all but four other states. Second, in a recession, fewer taxes are collected overall.

Workers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) know a third reason. “The bosses were having a party,” says Tom Terranova, chief negotiator for the 900 clerical workers at UIC who are represented by Local 73 of the Service Employees International Union. He was referring to a study the Center for Economic Policy Analysis did for the local, which found that, over the last 10 years, UIC’s top administrators raised their own salaries far above the wage increases for workers. For the top 1% of the bosses, average pay had risen from $150,000 10 years ago to over $250,000 now.

Employees were especially upset to learn, just before the budget crisis was made public, that many top administrators were given last-minute raises. Then, when the crisis was announced, it came with calls to cut service workers’ jobs. The big raises for the big bosses were never undone.

In response to this budget crisis, Terranova states, “UIC management and the politicians that are their partners in Springfield have wanted to balance their budgets on the backs of workers.”

The workers in Local 73 have a response to these attacks: “Cut the pork!”

Chop From The Top!

On Feb. 12, over 100 UIC workers and supporters marched on the University of Illinois Board of Trustees meeting. Luz Martinez, a member of the union negotiating committee, told the Spanish language TV stations 44 and 66, “Management has cut staff and froze our wages. We have much more work to do. It’s not right we should have no raises.”

Shirley McIntosh, a union steward, spoke at the press conference and said, “When we suffer, the patients and students who depend on our services suffer as well.” Sirlena Perry, another member of the negotiating committee, said, “A pay freeze is a pay cut, when you consider that our bills aren’t frozen. Our parking fees went up, gasoline and heating bills went up, like everything else.”

The rally was called to demand wage increases and a fair contract for the clerical workers. In addition, workers’ signs condemned the top administrators’ obscene raises.

“These administrators say that everyone has to tighten their belts to get through hard times,” said president Christine Boardman of Local 73. “But the burden is falling on the workers. Top management’s salaries and spending haven’t been affected.”

President Boardman was referring to a scandal that had broken in the press. The Board of Trustees spent over $500,000 in recent years chartering private planes to travel to meetings and sporting events. Although the main problem isn’t these perks, the news added insult to injury. The main problem is inflation of top salaries, which have cost the university $25 million over the last 10 years.

Union Successful in Saving Anniversary Raises

In the midst of this budget crisis, Local 73 is fighting to defend our members’ interests on a number of fronts. The contract expired in August, and in bargaining for a new contract, the negotiating committee has sought job security and to defend past gains. The union has also pursued legislation such as a line item review for the University’s budget, so that savings could be identified and then redirected to wages for workers.

As a result of the public outcry and the protests, workers won a hearing for our complaints about the inequities. Now, together with the legislative efforts, an initial victory has been achieved. The clerical workers won a continuation of ‘step increases’ for this year. Years ago, step increases were part of every title for civil service workers, but then they were eliminated for all workers in the early 1990’s. In 1993, union workers fought and won to get them back. Keeping step increases means most Local 73 members will get a 4% raise on their anniversary date. However, some members are already on the top stop and won’t get a step increase, and so the fight for a fair contract raise will continue.

Job Cuts and Attack on Seniority Rights

What management gave with a teaspoon, they are preparing to take away with a shovel. There are still 1200 job cuts threatened throughout the statewide University of Illinois system. To make matters worse, the UIC bosses’ negotiators are trying to eliminate the protection for senior workers. This would make it possible for department managers to cut people with longer years of service, in favor of newer hires.

Local 73 is responding with a fight to save our jobs. Part of this will be more actions by the members. Also planned is a legislative effort to stop the abuse of Extra Help Employees – who are essentially temporary workers who receive no benefits and work for years without getting permanent positions.

“The struggle continues,” said Glenda Searcy, another bargaining committee member. “We’re fighting for all of our members, for our job security and for a raise for everyone. Our members’ lives will be hurt if they have to go without a raise. We have to keep on fighting.”

#ChicagoIL #News #BudgetCrisis #SEIU #ChopFromTheTop #UniversityOfIllinoisAtChicagoUIC #executivePay #jobCuts

The University of Minnesota got $187 million less than requested from the state government for the years 2004-2005. In response to the less than desired budget, the bosses at the top of the administration laid off long term employees, cut programs and raised tuition 14% this year. That said, the U of M would still receive more than $1 billion from the state.

Top administrators are shielding their $150,000 to $400,000 salaries from the serious cuts, yet they demand a wage freeze from the unionized and non-union staff. They are also asking the employees to pick up big costs for health insurance, which essentially adds up to still greater pay cuts.

The contracts for workers in four University unions – three AFSCME locals and Teamsters local 320 – expired this year. The unions are standing together to resist the proposed changes.

Angry workers are mobilizing against the potential cuts. “Management is not happy just trying to deal with less money from the state, they are coming after long-term employees, anyone who is not the favorite of management and, in short, our unions,” said Phyllis Walker, president of AFSCME Local 3800 and co-chair of the clerical workers negotiating committee.

“What the administration is asking of us is unreasonable and we cannot stand for it,” Walker continued. “The health care costs alone are permanent. The U Plan was not in crisis. The administration saw an opportunity to shift the burden to our backs, and we are not going to take it.”

University bureaucrats have been telling the Board of Regents (the governing body for the university) the same old 'everyone must share the pain' story since the beginning of the year.

“What is so troubling to us is the way that management lies and manipulates people,” said Marie Milsten-Fiedler, a member of the clerical negotiating committee and long-term employee from the American Studies department. “We have a long-term employee who has served the university for over 20 years. Her department is looking at the mandated budget cuts – they decide to 'eliminate' her position. Then we find out from a non-union person in her department that the director received this year a $40,000 bonus. But this person is going onto the layoff list.”

Walker explained that the union is determined to win contract language that will protect workers' jobs. “We do not have hiring priority. The union is proposing that if clerical workers are laid off, they will be rehired into a job at the University if they are qualified. Currently, the University seldom hires qualified internal applicants. They would rather hire from outside. Hiring laid off clerical workers off the layoff list won't cost the University.”

At the June 12 regents meeting, associate vice-president Frank Cerra, who earns almost $400,000 a year, argued that if costs are not kept down there would have to be more layoffs. The University has laid off more than 500 employees this year. As this threat to the employees is repeated over and over, some of the unions are calling the administration's bluff.

The University bosses need to get the union contracts done by year end so they can hold open enrollment for 'U Plan' (the University of Minnesota health plan). The unions are being asked to shoulder the costs of Govenor Pawlenty's budget cuts. “We are going to fight together and stop the takeback. Our jobs are the lowest paid jobs. Our members cannot afford to accept a wage freeze, health care cuts and lost job security,” said Walker.

Chop from the Top

Pressure continues to build as unions are gearing up for a big protracted fight. Fat-cat administrators have no right to run around and saying “we all have to share the pain.”

“There has been a 125% increase in top administrators that receive over $100,000 a year salary. These salaries need to be cut back as part of the budget solution. We need to chop from the top,” said Milsten-Fiedler. “The level of pain top administrators feel pales to the harsh conditions clerical workers are looking at facing with these cuts.”

The president of the University of Minnesota makes $350,000 a year and has a free 20-room house with cleaning and maintenance staff. This spring, it was revealed in a report to the regents that the president spent over $100,000 on renovating his house. Many of the top officials, department by department, bring down six digit salaries, plus perks. Many of these officials have the Cadillac version of health benefits, while the vast majority of workers at the U of M are losing ground.

Massive spending on buildings continues at the university, despite the scandals surrounding recent construction and renovation. More than $1 billion was spent on 'beautification' efforts over the last few years. The state of Minnesota also gave the University $48.3 million for new research buildings.

“If you lay people off, how can you have money for new buildings?” asked Walker. The U laid off staff and raised tuition to the double digits, and yet is not prioritizing its core elements – people.”

“We are coming to the conclusion that we cannot live with management proposals in negotiations,” said Walker.

Determined not to take bad contracts, no matter how they have to fight it, the unions are gearing up for a battle.

“We might be asking our members to authorize a strike, or we might not, but we know we are going to fight these cuts and mobilize our members to take back the power they have,” Walker declared.

#MinneapolisMN #News #AFSCMELocal3800 #ChopFromTheTop