Classes were cancelled and both entrances to UC Santa Cruz were blocked yesterday due to a labor strike. The over 12-hour rally involved Union and faculty members, students and staff who were protesting a UC system-wide unfair labor practice strike by the service worker union, AFSCME. At issues is low pay for unsafe labor. At UCSC the union is represented by nearly 500 people, 450 of whom are custodians, dining hall workers, bus drivers and maintenance personnel. The graduate student union, UAW also joined the strike in support of the service workers, over 700 UCSC graduate students belong to the union.
