WHEREAS, the University of California’s (UC) 14,000 clerical workers, a vast majority of whom are women and people of color, voted in 2010 to join the Teamsters and formed Local 2010, and an additional 800 UC skilled trades  workers joined Local 2010 this year; and

WHEREAS, these hard-working Teamsters consist of administrative assistants, skilled trades workers, collection representatives, childcare assistants, 911 dispatchers and more; and

WHEREAS, the UC system is the state’s third largest employer with nearly 200,000 employees, yet the university has driven down administrative support workers’ real wages by more than 24% in the last two decades and skilled trades workers are paid well below prevailing wage; and

WHEREAS, an Economic Policy Institute report found that 92.3% of UC administrative support workers are paid too little to afford the basic necessities of life; and

WHEREAS, UC has become part of the national trend of increased income inequality, as senior managers’ average income has increased at a rate 10 times  that of support staff workers; and

WHEREAS, the UC system is now trying to take away guaranteed raises and move from a secure defined benefit pension to a risky 401(k)-style plan that will decimate income replacement and make workers subject to the whims and fees of Wall Street.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED at this 29th International Convention that the Teamsters call on the state of California to renew its commitment to public higher education and restore budget cuts made to the UC system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of California has a moral imperative to pay workers a living wage, not increase income inequality; and

FINALLY, BE IT RESOLVED that the Teamsters Union calls upon the UC system to return to its roots and work to serve all Californians by becoming more affordable, a center of research and public policy information that the Golden State needs and a force for a fair and growing economy, not one that perpetuates the nation’s growing income divide.