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Please Help Save the UC Institute for Labor and Employment & the Labor Centers!
The struggle to save labor research at the University of California is heating up once again! Due to the tremendous outpouring of support during the past several months, the Legislature's committees have voted to restore funding for the Institute for Labor and Employment (ILE), but there is still a danger that the Schwarzenegger administration will insist on eliminating the ILE in the final stages of the budget debate.
It is simply unacceptable that labor research at the University is being singled out for elimination by the governor, while research for business and other constituencies is left intact. The ILE has generated cutting-edge research on living wage policies, health care access, paid family leave, immigration policy, global outsourcing, and many other issues that affect working families. It also funds the Labor Centers at UC Berkeley and UCLA. Its proposed elimination is not only a political attack on labor, but also a threat to academic freedom.
We are deeply grateful to those of you who have supported the ILE in the past. But this is the final and most critical moment in the budget process. Don't let the governor terminate the ILE! Send a letter to the governor now, and support the working people of California.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: I Support Full Funding for the Institute for Labor and Employment!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I am writing to voice concern about your administration's proposed elimination of funding for the University of California's Institute for Labor and Employment (ILE) in the 2004-05 state budget. The ILE has provided critically important research and educational activities that are valued by working people as well as academics, and this work should be preserved and nourished. As a publicly funded institution, the University of California should serve all the members of the community. In today's global economy, understanding the role of labor and employment is more important than ever, and the ILE plays a vital role in this regard as well.
I urge you to support full funding for the ILE in the 2004 - 2005 budget.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
June 09, 2004
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The UC Institute for Labor and Employment was established in 2000 with an annual budget of $6 million. By 2003, the annual budget had been reduced to $4 million, a reduction of over 33%. Now the Governor has proposed that the ILE budget be eliminated entirely in the fiscal year that begins July 1st, 2004.
Governor Schwarzenegger’s act will mean that all twenty-eight staff members funded by the Institute may be laid off. The decision would also terminate all of the Institutes research and education programs, including: the California Union Leadership School, the Labor Summer internships program, the Healthcare Working Group, programs on immigration, globalization, black workers, and regional economic development, and young workers, and dozens of other important projects that bridge the gap between the university and the labor movement.
The Institute for Labor and Employment is the only statewide program within the University of California that specifically addresses the labor and employment concerns of California’s workers. The ILE's current budget is only $4 million, a small fraction of the more than $31 million that business schools get from state funds! And as you may have guessed, no business school was singled out for 100% reduction.
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