Cheadle Hall saw its second picket of the month on Tuesday, December 15. But this was not like other recent protests. The same event occurred from noon till 1 p.m. on every University of California campus, and was aimed mainly to address concerns of researchers, technicians, and postdoctoral scholars who argue that the UC is hiding behind the budget crisis. Huge increases in grant revenue, they said, are not appropriately reflected in the current condition of UC employees and students.

While faculty, staff, and students remain united in their concerns, only faculty and staff were on campus December 15, as students had finished the quarter the previous Friday and dispersed for the holidays. (Meanwhile, professors have until December 16 to submit grades, and other workers have plenty to do while students are on break.) The participating faculty and staff tried to raise awareness of fellow UC employees and the public alike, about their gripes with the way the UC is handling the cut in state funding. They did so in a more articulate, less furious-chanting sort of way than had been pursued previously.

The actors in this event include the UAW 5810, which is the union for more than 6,000 postdoctoral scholars, and the UPTE/CWA 9119, the union for more than 9,000 researchers and technicians at the University of California. Their “Bargaining Update,” a detailed flyer distributed during the protest, outlined their argument best: It urged the University of California to “stop hiding behind the state budget crisis and use increasing federal research funds to improve salary and benefits for 15,000 employees who make UC a world leader in research.”

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