Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 29
CHAPTER 137
Relative to the University Council-American Federation of Teachers.
[
Filed with
Secretary of State
August 28, 2019.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 29, Leyva.
Postsecondary education: University of California: University Council-American Federation of Teachers.
This measure would recognize June 27, 2019, as the anniversary of the commencement of the University Council-American Federation of Teachers’ representation of librarians, and commend the librarians represented by the University Council-American Federation of Teachers for their contributions to the University of California.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO WHEREAS, The University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT) is the union of more than 370 librarians and 5,000 faculty employees who are not members of the Academic Senate of the University of California and who are employed at the 10 campuses of the University of California; and
WHEREAS, UC-AFT members join together to work for legislative solutions to educational policy issues and full access to quality public higher education for our students; and
WHEREAS, UC-AFT has been fighting for better treatment of its members by the University of California for nearly half a century; and
WHEREAS, UC-AFT was formally organized on June 19, 1971, when seven American Federation of Teachers local unions at the University of California voted to establish themselves as a council; and
WHEREAS, Following the passage in 1978 of the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relation Act, which allowed for collective bargaining in the University of California system, representation elections were held for two groups of employees, librarians and faculty employees who were not members of the Academic Senate of the University of California; and
WHEREAS, On June 27, 1983, librarians voted to be represented by UC-AFT and began bargaining in December 1983; and
WHEREAS, Librarians at the University of California are critical to providing collection materials and comprehensive instruction on research; and
WHEREAS, Libraries are the heart of the University of California’s educational mission to faculty, students, and the greater public, and librarians are their stewards; and
WHEREAS, Librarians, through training and professional ethics, prize academic and intellectual freedom above all else; and
WHEREAS, Librarians embody the public mission of the University of California of making materials available to all members of the California polity; and
WHEREAS, The University Council is made up of nine local unions, one from each campus, with UC San Francisco members and UC Hastings librarians belonging to the UC Berkeley local union; and
WHEREAS, UC-AFT has been working in coalition with other UC unions that together now represent more than 60,000 University of California employees systemwide, including 10,000 graduate student instructors; 18,000 clerical staff; 12,000 technical, health, and staff research assistants; and 13,000 service and hospital technicians; as well as nurses, firefighters, and other employees; and
WHEREAS, University Council is affiliated with the California Federation of Teachers and the national American Federation of Teachers (AFT), as well as the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations and its local Central Labor Councils; and
WHEREAS, Nationally, AFT has more than one million members and has grown by more than 300,000 members in the last decade; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby recognizes June 27, 2019, as the anniversary of the commencement of the University Council-American Federation of Teachers’ representation of librarians, and commends these librarians for their contributions to the University of California system, and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the Office of the President of the University of California and to the author for appropriate distribution.