KUCI Subversity: Unions Respond to University of California Pay Cut/furlough Plans

University of California Regents July 16 2009 imposed a furlough/pay cut plan on thousands of UC employees, but for the UC's unionized workers, the University has to negotiate with them or the plan does not apply. On the 20 July 2009 edition of Subversity, we continue to bring you the union response. We talked with Dianna Sahhar, a long-time Library Assistant at UCI, just back from negotiations as a CUE leader, and asked her what the University is proposing and her union's reaction. She reveals that because the plans call for monthly pay cuts, the furloughs when taken will not entail further cuts, and thus will be recorded as "paid" leave. She is President of CUE Irvine, Local #9 from March 2008 to2010. She is a graduate of UCI with a BA in Social Ecology from 1983, and has worked at the Library for almost 20 yrs now. We also talked with Juan Castillo, Lead Organizer for AFSCME 3299, who was at Friday's town hall meeting and his attempt to question the UCI Chancellor from the floor got Chancellor Michael Drake stymied for a second -- with Drake finally saying he was not "negotiating" with Castillo. Interviewer is Show host Daniel C. Tsang.