Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

Picketline blog reports that the national SEIU has raised half a million dollars for the UM strike fund. And promises that much again if needed.

This sounds to me like a very strategic development in that it means the strikers are unlikely to fold soon. My solar-powered calculator suggests that $500,000 is enough to support the entire would-be bargaining unit at $7.50 for 40 hours a week for almost four weeks. And if UNICCO is right that only 25% of the employees are actually not showing up for work (presumably the only ones eligible for strike pay), that means we should multiply that times four, which carries us well into the summer. And that’s not even considering the other donations they may have received, or the possibility that strike pay may be less than 100% of lost wages.

UNICCO’s latest line is that everything should be on hold until Shalala’s committee issues its report. While the committee report certainly offers a face-saving way for the University to get out of this mess, and I hope it takes it, from its make-up this isn’t a committee which looks very independent of President’s office, nor one that has any great history of pro-worker sentiment. Rather the contrary, so while I’m hopeful, I’m also not that confident.

Meanwhile, other than the obvious facts that (1) card-check elections are more likely to result in a union than NLRB-managed elections, and (2) both sides say the method they dislike is too easily manipulated by the other side, and (3) the apparent fact that UNICCO has allowed card-check elections elsewhere, but doesn’t want want here for some reason, is there anyone who can point me to a discussion of the merits and demerits of card check vs. elections as a fair means of measuring what workers actually want?

Maybe, probably, I’m not on the right mailing lists, but I just got the following e-mail, which was the first I’d heard of this event:

Rally to Support Striking UM Workers,

Friday March 10, 4:30 pm County Bldg. 111 NW 1st ST That’s Government Center in downtown!!

Every Miami Worker Deserves A Chance for a Better Life. You Can Help UM Janitors Get That Chance.

IT’S NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE ENDS MEET in Miami on $6.40 an hour. Yet that’s all many contract cleaners at the University of Miami are paid. $51 a day with no health benefits. Less than half the county median wage. On these tiny salaries, we’re forced to make choices we never thought we’d be faced with in the United States: Do we pay rent or buy groceries? Buy shoes for our kids or fill a prescription? UM’s mostly Cuban-American janitors have been joining together to build a better life for ourselves one where we don’t have to make these choices. But the company we work for–UNICCO, the cleaning contractor hired by the university–has been punishing those who speak out by threatening, intimidating, and even suspending union supporters. So we’ve decided we must strike to make our voices heard. You can help send a message to UNICCO:

Give Miami janitors a chance to live the American dream.

Support Striking Janitors
RALLY: Friday, March 10 ? 4:30 p.m.
County Building, 111 NW 1st Street

For more information, contact SEIU Local 11 305-672-7071, ext. 246
Service Employees International Union Local 11

This all seems rather last minute. I’m certainly not in a position to go. I hope they know what they are doing.

Update: The organizers’ account of the rally — 300+ is a good turnout for this sort of event.

The law school has set up a strike blog to aid communication between the school and students. It’s brand new, so there isn’t much content there yet, but I’m told there will be more within 24 hours.

From: “Coker, Donna K.”
Subject: Strike Blog & Other Related Matters

Dear Students,

I want thank those students who participated in the two events on Tuesday – the information session organized by students at noon and the town hall discussion in the afternoon. While faculty differ in their responses to the strike, the conversation at the town hall meeting made clear that they are strongly committed to student education. The video of the town hall meeting will be posted on the “web cast” page of the web site.

The strong differences of opinion and the robust nature of public debate regarding those differences exemplify the kind of thoughtful community that is the University Of Miami School Of Law. We would expect no less from our passionate and intellectually engaged faculty and students. While some of these issues divide us, we share commitments to intellectual honesty, to justice, and to the value of a community of learning.

The Law School has established a blog to continue the conversation about the strike. You can find it at http://www.umlaw.net/strike/. We asked faculty to post strike-related messages to students on the blog rather than via email. The blog, of course, gives students an additional way to communicate with each other as well as with administration and faculty.

We will continue to monitor the situation with the strike and the ramifications for the law school community. We anticipate sponsoring further informational sessions. If you are having difficulty with locating taped classes (web or otherwise), please let us know. Our AV department is working overtime to keep up with the demands of the current crisis.

Donna Coker
Associate Dean