Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

The law faculty had a meeting yesterday, and there was general agreement about many things most of which I’ll leave to the Dean to discuss. But three items are worth noting now: I think that there was consensus on the need for each of us to reassure students that they will not be penalized for physical absence from lectures (a latitude which will not, however, apply to exams…sorry guys) whether on or off campus and to provide meaningful alternatives, be they tape, video, handouts, or alternate meetings, which will meet students’ educational needs and expectations.

There was also widespread agreement among the faculty that this is a major teaching moment: many of our students have never seen a strike up close, or a picket line, and with unions down to circa 10% of the US work force, this is a chance to learn about labor relations, worker economics, and many other things it will be valuable to know.

Another item of consensus was that the law school hasn’t done a great job of communicating what the faculty are doing with their classes — in part because they’ve been too busy doing it to tell the registrar’s office. Or indeed communicating our thinking, or much of anything.

So, law student readers, expect a barrage of communication efforts in the days to come. And indeed, it begins:

U.M. Law Town Hall Meeting. The meeting will take place today, Tuesday, from 4:30 – 6:30 in Room 352. Dean Lynch will moderate the discussion. All students and faculty are encouraged to attend. The meeting will be an opportunity for students to voice their concerns about the strike and its ramifications on the law school community. Unfortunately, the meeting time conflicts with some classes. Given the pressing nature of the concerns and the importance of meeting before spring break, this was the best time we could find. We will tape the discussion and make it available on the web for those who are do not attend. Conflicting classes will meet at their usual time unless your instructor decides otherwise. Any issues related to class conflicts should be directed to your instructor.

Student Organized Panel on the Strike. Also today is a panel discussion of substantive issues regarding the strike. This panel, organized by students, consists of a UNICCO spokesperson, SEIU (union) representative, a UNICCO worker, and Professor Michael Fischl. The meeting will take place in the student lounge from 12:30 – 2:00 and pizza will be served.

Having been away when the strike hit, I am perhaps unduly perplexed as to some aspects of it.

Here’s a quick summary of what I (think I) understand, and what I’m fairly sure I don’t know about the economic issues.

I think that there are about 450 mostly janitorial employees in the would-be bargaining unit. This includes both the Coral Gables campus and the Medical School (and perhaps the Rosenstiel campus too?). The workers’ current grievance is with UNICCO, which contracts with UM. The UM contract is only one of many held by UNICCO.

Most people I’ve talked to believe Donna Shalala could end all this with a phone call and money. Whether that’s true or not, UM’s leverage is both economic and moral, and especially the moral aspect is a reason why one might reasonably expect Donna Shalala to take a leadership role.

One thing that seems generally agreed is that whether or not there are any current constraints on the extent to which the University can insert itself into what is in form a dispute between its contractor and the contractor’s employees, this contract ends soon, and there are fewer limits on UM’s ability to announce what terms it will wish to put into the next contract, be it with UNICCO or a competitor. If UM were to announce that the next contract will require a minimum wage of $N per hour, or a specific level of health benefits, that would be legal, subject only to questions of timing (I’m told that were the announcement too close to a unionization vote it might be seen as an unfair labor practice); the downside from UM’s point of view is that it would undercut UNICCO, which the University seems strangely loath to do, and would ultimately cost money. How much money is itself an interesting question (see below).

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Another communiqué from Michael Fischl, this time regarding a message from an undergraduate here at UM.

Dear colleagues

I urge you to read the first-hand account of the “shoving” incident that appears below. In a nutshell, last night Alyssa Cundari (an undergraduate and a member of STAND, the student organization that has been leading the fight on campus for a living wage) was distributing STAND living-wage flyers at a University function taking place in the open courtyard of the Architecture school. She was uninvited, of course, and, when she was asked to leave by someone official-looking, she did so immediately.

A short distance from the function, she was confronted by UM public safety officers who asked if she was the individual who had been distributing flyers at the courtyard function, and the ensuing interaction quickly went south. They confiscated her remaining flyers, demanded her name and her I.D., and told her they were going to file a police report; in response she refused to cooperate; in response one of the officers ultimately grabbed her arm and shoved her; and then another officer accused her of battery on a police officer. (As a wise observer said during the police riot at 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, “I’d call the police, but they’re already here.”)

As it happens, last night I was next door at a strike-related event at Eaton Residential College, and I heard this account from Alyssa first-hand; moreover, it was confirmed in every respect by two students and Nina Baliga from the SEIU, all of whom witnessed the entire event (Nina filmed some of it). Alyssa was devastated, beside herself, and very scared, and she spoke with Donna Coker (who is one of the faculty masters at Eaton), me, and three student affairs/residence halls officials for about an hour after the program. (By the way, the latter handled the incident professionally and sympathetically, promising that there would be a most forceful communication to campus security officials about the inappropriateness of the officers’ actions first thing this morning from someone far higher in the food chain than any of us.)

I am sharing this with you because I think it raises several important issues beyond the grievous injustice done to one of UM’s students: (1) tensions are very high on campus and are likely to increase, and folks need to be warned that there is reason to worry about the adequacy of the training and professionalism of the public safety officers who will no doubt be out in force (in this case, Deputy Dan is decidedly not your friend); (2) it confirms – as if further confirmation were needed – that the current capacity of University officials and staff to deal fairly and professionally with real and outspoken dissent on this campus is, well, not at all where it ought to be (a point, by the way, that President Shalala herself made in the Herald piece on STAND back in December); and (3) it also confirms that the rules are different when the word “union” is involved, because I can’t imagine that University officials would have sent public safety after a student who was passing out flyers for any other cause at a party being conducted in an open public space on campus, where the student in question had already immediately complied with a request to leave.

In sadness and disappointment more than anything else,

Michael Fischl

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Via Michael Fischl comes this UNICCO Strike FAQ — many answers to one frequently asked question (does that make it a freqently answered question?):

If so many UNICCO employees really want a union, why aren’t they all striking?

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