Bill Clinton Cancels UCLA Commencement Speech

I'm not an "affected graduate" stop treating me like a victim

I really think people should stop spreading the rumor that the workers forced Clinton to cancel his speech. The workers are NOT going on strike tomorrow, so Bill Clinton would not be "crossing the picket line" so to speak if he did come. He chose to cancel his engagement anyway because he warned the University a month ago that he would not be able to come until a fair contract was agreed upon. I truly applaud the sincerity of President Clinton, Nuñez and all of the other graduation speakers that have refused to speak at an institution that passes the burden of workers' BASIC NECESSITIES onto the tax payers. UC is starting to look like Wal-Mart...

P.S. I'm a student, so if you didn't want me to apply what I've learned, you shouldn't have taught it to me in the first place. I hope everyone remembers it's about the students and not some celebrity face. Celebrating our graduation shouldn't require us to pretend these issues don't exist. We're being given real degrees to go out into the real world, to deal with real problems. To frustrated parents: celebrate with your graduate, it's silly to think that anything can change the significance of our special day.

Commencement

Clinton a no-show? Boo hoo! Live with it. The real shame is that a real mentor like John Wooden can't preside (due to health issues). And as far as the labor issue, Bio-Girl hit it right on the head. This just in...if you want to make decent money and get ahead in this world, get an education followed by a good paying job! But if you'd rather work in a facilities job, so be it. Everyone has options. If you don't have a good education, but still want to live within your means, then move somewhere more suitable to your budget. We live in a Capitalist society, not a Socialist one. Get a job in the real world, then form your own opinions rather than echoing the liberal ones of your professors!

Pres. Clinton we Love and Respect you even more

I am a worker at UCSF and an AFSCME 3299 union member, In behalf of my fellow worker we are glad that Pres. Clinton support our struggle to have a decent Contract. Equal Pay for Equal Work.

Clinton and Union Make Graduation Students Suffer

As a parent of one of the affected graduates, it is highly disappointing that a union deliberately manipulates a graduation ceremony to promote their labor issues. Their beef is not with the students but with the government and university officials. And I fault Clinton as well! He should have seen the light that this ceremony is all about -and for- the students. To paraphrase a famous quote of his, he should have refused to cancel his speech and simply said "It's all about students, stupid."

Nuñez

Props to Speaker Emeritus of the California Assembly Fabian Nuñez for canceling his graduation speech in support of a worker campaign for the SECOND time. I guess the Commencement planners at UC Davis thought 10 months would have been enough time to agree to a fair contract. The UC officials' stalling tactics are hurting EVERYONE.

Hmm I thought this was supposed to be about commencement but...

Just to respond to the previous anonymous post, a state appointed fact finder determined that the University is financially capable of meeting the workers demands, and that the state budget should not be an issue in negotiations because it represents such a small fraction of where the funding for the workers' wages comes from! over 91% comes from the profits from the hospitals, restaurants, parking, etc... profits that the service and patient care workers are directly responsible for bringing in. And so no, this has nothing to do with tuition either, because tuition is related to state funding, and workers' wages do NOT come from tuition, thank God haha.

I'm graduating tomorrow and I'm PISSED that Bill Clinton is not coming to speak. My parents love the Clinton's, that was the primary reason I decided to even attend the L&S Commencement ceremony. And I bet a lot of people are traveling from God-knows-where to celebrate with their graduates and see Bill Clinton.

The University officials knew this was coming, how dare they drag their heels and let this screw up our graduation festivities. Negotiations have been going on 10 months, and the workers are just fighting for what they NEED at this point, a FAMILY-SUSTAINING WAGE. That's not a big screen TV, that's just bread on the table. It's about time for the University PROFITS to provide for the workers' basic needs, rather than the tax payers who have to fund the public assistance programs that over 96% of the UC service workers qualify for!

Hopefully the informational pickets outside of the graduation ceremonies provide the visibility needed for the University officials to recognize what they need to do: PAY UC WORKERS FAIRLY!!

Where's Gina?

Bill Clinton couldn't get Gina Gershon to leave her NY commitments and spend the weekend in LA with him instead. Labor is the last thing on his mind.

Photos from Student and Worker Protest in Santa Cruz

Here is some coverage from Santa Cruz Indymedia. Do you like Photos?

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/06/08/18505208.php

On June 6th, George Blumenthal was inaugurated as the 10th Chancellor of UC Santa Cruz during a ceremony on the East Field overlooking the Monterey Bay. Students and workers, organized through the Student and Worker Coalition for Justice (SWCJ) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), rallied at UCSC, marched to the Chancellor's Inauguration and blocked California Highway One at Mission and Bay during a 10-hour day of action to deliver a loud and clear message -- end poverty wages at the University of California.

Where do you plan on getting the money from?

Yes, it is true that the workers should have a $15/hr minimum wage, but where will you get the money from? The UC system has to support 200k students with a smaller budget and ever more increasing numbers who want a UC education. Figure out what you want. If they raise student fees...we complain, if they try to cut costs by paying less to the employee...we complain. I am a UC student myself and I notice how much of a fuss the governing body faces for raising the tuitions by 10%. I couldn't help it but laugh at the fact that some of you students want to increase the wages of the workers by 50%. Yes....how about also raising the student fees by about 50%. That should solve the problem.

The money doesn't just come out of thin air. Either the state government has to give more money to the UC system, or there has to be a raise in tuition fees to support the raise in wages.

Citation for stat that 96% of UC workers qualify for assistance?

Does anyone know where that info comes from? I think it would have greater impact if we knew the source.