University of Southern California

Los Angeles Gets Down...Stir It Up Style!

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Mon, 04/26/2010 - 18:59

Editors Note: This post was written by Marcos Escobar, who organized the second ever (Chicago'#1!!!) Stir It Up Conference in Los Angeles. He doesn't have a log-in name but will soon--hopefully--be joining our distinguished lineup of Stir It Up bloggers.

Faculty, students, and union leaders came together on USC’s campus on April 10^th at Southern California’s first Stir-It-Up conference. Students came from the University of Southern California, Loyola Marymount University, Pomona and even the University of New Mexico. Worker leaders came from USC, Disney, and the Hilton LAX.

Participants discussed how they fought for justice, participated in organizing trainings, and made plans for forming and strengthening worker-student coalitions.

Elias Kohn, a USC student, said “[the conference] was very inspiring and moving. It started with passionate testimonies from workers and then it was great speeches by students about how they affect their campuses and communities. [The conference] also put us in touch with local organizer so we can plug into local actions.”

Katie Duberg from Pomona said, “it was really exciting to come and meet the other students who are interested in the same things I am. If we keep in touch I think we can help support each other in bringing justice to our campuses.”

This event was organized by UNITE HERE Local 11 and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, Los Angeles (CLUE-LA).

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USC Food Service Workers Ratify New Five-Year Contract with Major Wage and Benefit Gains

Submitted by Ian Mikusko on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 10:24

The Hunter College workers weren’t the only college cafeteria workers who had a big victory in the past several weeks. The University of Southern California food service workers, members of Unite Here Local 11, ratified a new contract on October 20.

The USC employees won wage increases of up to $2.45 per hour and upheld the Local 11 standard of free, full family medical coverage throughout the life of the contract. "With Unite Here we have a long tradition of organizing for strong contracts with big improvements, and this victory is just another example," said Alfredo Valle, a food server at USC for more than 25 years.

As was the case at Hunter College, this victory was not given to the workers; rather it was earned through action and a united workforce. In September, 80 food service workers took their demands to USC President Steven Sample—sending the USC administration a message that they were willing to fight for a good contract. Here are a couple brief videos from the USC workers with their reaction to the contract victory: