Berkeley's Betrayal - Public Sociology @ Berkeley - University of ...

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on the job, nor does it provide them with the care they need when they return to work after havingbeen injured. The university they found violates their integrity by withholding informationthey need to make good judgments about their working environment and about the duties theyhave to perform. The university they found tolerates uncivil and unfair managerial practices. Theuniversity they found does not promote their own rise to leadership or access to opportunities fortheir learning and development. The university they found does not respect their dignity as individuals.As we have shown in this report, over and over, the actual wages and working conditions atthe university violate the very principles that it seeks to claim as its own. Nor has U.C. Berkeleyacted alone. Over the past few decades, across the country, universities have succumbed to theseduction of the for-profit sector’s relentless celebration of the bottom line. Rather than resistingthe nation-wide trend of deepening inequality and erosion of workplace protections, universitieshave joined corporations in disregarding the humanity and basic needs of workers at the bottomof the income distribution.It is time to turn the tide and reclaim the university as an institution that is committed tohigher values as an integral part of higher learning. Principles can only be eroded for so longbefore they become evidently empty shells, losing their meaning and their power to bind togetherand motivate. As students and employees, we call on incoming Chancellor Birgeneau and onother leaders to step to the plate and make U.C. Berkeley a truly principled community: onewhich includes those who clean the class rooms, record the grades, prepare the food, and maintainthe grounds.We call on incoming Chancellor Birgeneau to take the following ten steps:Institute a Living Wage: Full-time university workers must earn wages that are, atminimum, sufficient to cover the basic expenses of a household. This living wagemust be automatically adjusted on an annual basis to keep up with changes in thecosts of living.Provide Child Care: Affordable child care must be available for all workers. The universityoffers on-campus subsidized child care to students. Workers deserve no less.Guarantee Parking and Transportation: Workers who pay for parking must beguaranteed an actual parking space. To counteract parking congestion, the universityshould provide employees a Bay Area Transit pass.Guarantee Safety on the Job: Workers must receive all the equipment they need tobe able to safely perform their jobs. Workers must not be asked to perform beyond theircapacities. When responsibilities exceed available (wo)manpower, additional workersmust be hired.Re-integrate injured workers: The university must welcome back and make thenecessary accommodation for those workers who have been injured on the job.Guarantee Information: To enable workers to make informed decisions abouttheir health and safety, the university must ensure the smooth and effective flow ofinformation.30
Monitor supervisors: Supervisors must be monitored and held accountable for theiractions. Work units with high turn-over and injury rates, and any unit with allegations ofabuse or discrimination should be subject to investigation.Promote upward mobility: Workers must have opportunities for advancement.When possible, workers should receive promotions based on work experience andfamiliarity with the job. Unnecessary credential requirements should be removed.Promote participation: Structures must be instituted to enable workers to provideinput into all aspects of their jobs, including tools and the organization of work itself.Surveys must be anonymous and protections must be put into place against the risk ofreprisals.Grant Community membership: Workers must be recognized as true members ofthe educational community who are due the full set of benefits that go with such membership.For example, university employees should receive tuition discounts and theflexibility in work schedule necessary to take classes.Neither administrators, faculty members nor students can afford to ignore the problems highlightedin this report, nor the steps that are necessary to remedy these problems.The working conditions we have described in this report are symptomatic of a much largerproblem which confronts faculty members, students, and workers alike. At this historical juncturein our country’s history, the very principles of honesty, integrity, civility, and mutual respect—thefundamental values of an educational community—are at risk.Nor is it simply principle that is at risk (though principle should be a sufficient argument,especially at a university). The same arguments that have been used to push down workers’wages and squelch criticism of working conditions are also being used to hike up student feesand depress faculty salaries.It may be tempting to think of students and teachers as belonging to a different categoryfrom those whose daily work supports their educational process. However, this false distinctionstands in the way of recognizing our common humanity and our common interest in making theprincipled community we imagine into a real one. Our research has been designed to remove thisartificial barrier. Over and over, in the course of the interviews, workers told us how happy theywere to discover that students cared about their experiences and their troubles at the university.We hope that readers of this report will take it upon themselves to continue to learn, and educateother students, parents, and alumni, about the lives and working conditions of university workers.To end U.C. Berkeley’s betrayal of its workers, however, we must go beyond educating ourselvesand others. We must demand the return of our university to its rightful position as a publicinstitution committed to the principles of higher education as well as to the members of the communitythat it serves.31
Page 1: Foreword by Barbara EhrenreichBetra
Page 4 and 5: CONTENTSForeword . . . . . . . . .
Page 6 and 7: These conditions are not, of course
Page 8 and 9: Sam’s story is not unique. Behind
Page 10 and 11: Three troubling themes emerged from
Page 12 and 13: FINANCIAL SQUEEZE“We’re all fre
Page 14 and 15: And one way of doing that is by own
Page 16 and 17: THE HUNT FOR PARKINGSometimes, the
Page 18 and 19: MIND THE GAPIf you ask U.C. Berkele
Page 20 and 21: For example, both custodians and fo
Page 22 and 23: More than anything, however, the em
Page 24 and 25: tain level of cynicism in Jerry:
Page 26 and 27: CHAPTER 3: DIGNITY AND RESPECTU.C.
Page 28 and 29: always room for improvement.’ So
Page 30 and 31: anging it on the desk as if she was
Page 32 and 33: now mixed up with making money.”
Page 36 and 37: Notes1“A Message from Chancellor
Page 38: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis research proje

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