Union "Wakes Up" President Yudof (July 12)

UC employees “wake up” President Yudof at his UC mansion to give alternatives to proposed cuts

“California has a budget crisis; UC has reserves... The only crisis UC is facing is a crisis of leadership” - Tanya Smith, UC employee

Employees of the University of California visited UC President Mark Yudof this morning (Sunday July 12th) at his manor –which tax payers pay over $100,000 dollars to rent for him-- on Sunday morning to tell him to “wake up” to the many alternatives to tuition hikes, campus-level cuts and employee furloughs.

“The decrease in state funding amounts to only 2.5% of UC's budget” says Tanya Smith, an editor at UC Berkeley and campus president of the University Professional and Technical Employees union (UPTE-CWA 9119). “The state of California has a budget crisis; UC has reserves in the billions of dollars that could be tapped. Or UC could redirect its fundraising abilities to cover the decrease from the state. Or use other sources of income such as from the highly profitable medical centers.”

“The only crisis UC is facing is a crisis of leadership”, continued Smith. “Rather than discussing the alternatives, President Yudof is calling for cuts that will result in lasting damage to patient care, education of the brightest minds in California and critical research which is saving lives and revitalizing our economy. That's why we visited him this morning, to try to engage him in a conversation, but he refused to come to the door.”

Joined by TV and radio crews, employees knocked on Yudof's door at 8am and were informed that the UC president was in but would not come to speak with them. The letter for Yudof was left at his door (see below and attached to email).
Demonstrations by employees calling for UC to “open the books” and provide full financial disclosure and give alternatives to tuition hikes and further cuts are planned for Tuesday at noon at Parnassus Ave at UCSF and at 7:30am on Wednesday at the Mission Bay campus of UCSF.

CONTACTS: Tanya Smith, (510) 325-6381, tanyagays@yahoo.com
Jelger Kalmijn, (619) 370-3753, president@upte-cwa.org