Student sit-ins and occupations have become a common sight in California over the last couple of years, but this week has seen something new — a sit-in at a union office.
Two factions have been competing for leadership of UAW Local 2865, the local that represents academic student employees in the University of California system. Balloting in the union election ended eight days ago, but the vote count was suspended abruptly last weekend, and has yet to resume.
The incumbent United for Social and Economic Justice slate shut down the count last Saturday, claiming irregularities in the voting and alleging that the insurgents were using “scorched earth tactics” to disrupt the process.
The challengers, Academic Workers for a Democratic Union, countered that USEJ pulled the plug because of fears that AWDU might win an upset victory, and staged a sit-in in the union office to press for transparency in the process. Expressing concern that the disruption “contributes to the public perception that unions are corrupt and outmoded,” a group of labor scholars released a public letter calling for the count to resume.
The AWDU, which grew out of California’s student protest movement, says Local 2865 has operated undemocratically, has passed up opportunities to forge coalitions with activists in the state, and has rolled over in contract negotiations.
On Tuesday, the two sides agreed on protocols and mediators for a resumption of the count, but that resumption, slated for yesterday morning, hasn’t yet occurred. Meanwhile, the two sides continue to exchange accusations on their respective blogs (USEJ and AWDU).
Fingers crossed for a swift and just end to this stalemate.
studentactivism.net 
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May 6, 2011 at 2:33 pm
zunguzungu
Angus, beware of making a false equivalence between the two sides. To my mind, there is none: one side wants to count the ballots and then go through the various claims and challenges as the bylaws set forth. The other side has tried to unilaterally throw out all the votes from Berkeley and UCLA (including mine) without the slightest shred of due process. The only reason the incumbents haven’t gotten away with it has been an outpouring of angry union members (including me) that have the temerity to want their votes counted, and were willing to take action to make sure they were.
May 6, 2011 at 3:54 pm
Angus Johnston
Thanks for the comment, ZZ. Didn’t mean to suggest any equivalence between the sides — I’m observing this all at a remove, but AWDU’s arguments certainly look a hell of a lot stronger to me than USEJ’s.