Campaign Unavailable

We're sorry, this alert is no longer available. If you would like to learn more about ways you can take action, please visit Student Labor Action Project.

The short explanation of this alert was:

On May 13, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released his May Revision of his 2004-05 Budget Proposal. Like his initial proposal last January, it contains severe cutbacks on services for poor and working people, including no budget for the Institute for Labor and Employment (ILE), the University of California research unit which funds the Labor Centers at UC Berkeley and UCLA.

It is outrageous that labor research is being singled out for elimination by the governor, while research for business and other concerns are left intact. The ILE has generated research for living wage policies, health care access, paid family leave, immigration policy, global outsourcing, and hundreds of other issues that affect working families. Its elimination is not only a direct attack on labor, but also a threat to academic freedom.

Beginning on May 17, the California legislature’s subcommittees will be meeting to consider Schwarzenegger’s "May Revise." It is crucial that legislators hear from concerned citizens as soon as possible about opposition to elimination of the ILE.

Those who wrote letters last January contributed to a groundswell of public opinion that reverberated throughout the California legislature. Thousands of letters were sent through SLAP. Even if you wrote a letter then, it’s important to write one again now, so that the legislators understand that the public is watching their actions at this critical juncture.  Please send the letter below to California's legislative leaders, and ask them to stop this attack!

Schwarzenegger’s decision will destroy the efforts of the labor and social justice movement to establish a research and education institute for working people within the UC system. The Institute’s programs include paid student internships with unions, labor education courses, and critical research on living wage initiatives and issues facing garment workers, farm workers, and other low wage workforces.

There is still be a chance to block this decision in the state legislature. Please contact California Senate President Pro Tem John Burton and Assembly Speaker Herb Wessen, and ask them to defend labor at the University of California against Arnold’s right wing power grab. The University and its programs should serve the needs of working people, not just powerful corporations.



If you would like to view details on this alert, please visit here.