Administration building occupied

Gainesville, FL – 250 people rallied here, April 6, to support Kofi Adu-Brempong, the University of Florida student who was shot in the face by police. This rally follows two meetings with the University of Florida administration as well as the chief of the University Police Department. Both meetings proved to be a stalling tactic against both the Coalition for Justice Against Police Brutality and Students for a Democratic Society. During the rally, the anger at administration's stalling was expressed many times.

Chicago, IL – 300 graduate employees, faculty, students and campus workers rallied on the campus of the University of Illinois-Chicago today, April 5, to demand a contract for the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO). While the bargaining committee walked into the building to meet with management in federal mediation, the protesters chanted, “Who are we? GEO. Are we gonna back down? Hell, no!”

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Network to Fight for Economic Justice on the struggle of the Graduate Employees Organization at the University of Illinois at Chicago to obtain a fair contract.

Minneapolis, MN – About 150 graduate student workers and their supporters marched across the University of Minnesota campus here, March 31, to demand a reduction in student fees. The march started at the Social Sciences Tower and proceeded to the central administration building – Morrill Hall. The march and rally was joined by members of AFSCME Local 3800, which represents clerical workers.

Gainesville, FL – There are widespread reports that Kofi Adu-Brempong, a graduate student who was shot in the face by a member of the University of Florida Police Department, will be moved to jail.

Milwaukee, WI – One hundred people marched here, March 19, to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the seventh anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

Milwaukee, WI – On March 11, over 70 students, professors and teachers assistants picketed outside the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee chancellor’s office, as several organizers met inside with the chancellor to demand that he drop the threat of academic punishment for the 16 student protesters who were arrested during the March 4 National Day of Action for Education Rights.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement of solidarity from student groups in the Philippines with the participants in the March 4 day of action.

The March 4 national day of action for education was a huge success! Over 100,000 people marched, rallied and took action at over 100 schools and colleges. The biggest protests were in California, both on college campuses and in city streets. College students and union members joined parents with their children, as well as high school students, to demand education funding from the state government. Across the country, students, union workers and faculty marched across campuses and rallied outside administration buildings, while administrators hid or snuck out the back door. In some cases university chancellors and presidents locked themselves inside their offices surrounded by police while students tried to deliver petitions.

Tuscaloosa, AL – After a week in and out of work and negotiations, Crimson Ride bus drivers at the University of Alabama have successfully achieved their first contract with First Transit. The agreement was reached at approximately 2:30 a.m. on March 8, after several hours at the bargaining table. The negotiating process has stalled several times, which led to the Crimson Ride drivers’ strike on March 1. After a few hours on the picket line, First Transit agreed to come back to the table, but once again these negotiations went nowhere. On March 7, they returned to the table once more, threatening the drivers with a lockout and scab buses if no agreement was reached.

Fight Back New Service is circulating the following statement from the Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society.

Los Angeles, CA – The March 4 National Day of Action to Defend Education saw a strong turnout at UCLA, with about 1000 attending a noon rally on campus against the budget cuts.

Minneapolis, MN – About 500 union members, students, and faculty, came together for a spirited rally and march here, March 4. Organized by the Chop From The Top Coalition and the Save Our School Campaign, protesters first gathered at the central administration building, Morrill Hall, where Phyllis Walker, president of AFSCME Local 3800 was among those who addressed the crowd.

San Bruno, CA – Hundreds of Skyline College students left class and gathered on the campus quad for their Day of Action protest against budget cuts, on March 4. The action was organized by Skyline Against Cuts, which grew out of the students’ struggle against budget cuts last fall. After a short song, Skyline Against Cuts leader Michelle Araica led off the march. As student marshals held open doors, led chants and stopped traffic, nearly 500 students and a dozen or more faculty and staff supporters marched through almost all the buildings on campus, chanting “Hey hey! Ho ho! Budget cuts have got to go!”

Chicago, IL – There was a forceful protest of over 250 people at the University of Illinois-Chicago who came out to defend education and to fight for fair contracts, March 4. Chanting, “Chop from the top!” and “Whose university? Our university!” students, members of SEIU Local 73, the Graduate Employees Organization and faculty joined in unison against the administration placing the budget crisis on their backs. Earlier in the day, there was a forum by several professors speaking on the budget crisis, followed by a rally and march through the campus to the administrators’ building. The day closed with a soup kitchen provided by SEIU to demonstrate for a fair contract.

Thousands of students, workers and faculty at over 100 campuses in at least 39 states participated in a national day of action March 4. One demand was that administrators and chancellors must quit raising tuition and fees. Another demand was that theycut the salaries of the highest-paid administrators instead of the lowest-paid staffers on campus. Many of the protests opposed layoffs. Actions ranged from walkouts and marches, to occupations and shut-downs, to teach-ins and movie showings.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Taking action on March 4, hundreds of students, campus workers, and their supporters filled the hallways outside the chancellor's office, in Murphy Hall.

Los Angeles, CA – The fight for public education at UCLA began early this morning, March 4. By sunrise the campus had transformed. A walkout and rally is planned for 11:30 a.m. this morning where students, workers and faculty will join together at Bruin Plaza to denounce the budget cuts. Picket lines led by the unions, AFSCME, UPTE and UWA have sprung up all over and their chants can be heard all from almost everywhere on campus, “Whose university? Our university!” The administration will not be allowed to lay off workers and raise tuition without a fight! Things are expected to heat up as the day goes on, with teach-ins and marches and sit-ins.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Network to Fight for Economic Justice. We urge you to distribute copies of the statement at March 4 rallies for the right to education.