UCB Graduate Students have called for a system-wide strike beginning November 18, 2009 if the UC Regents approve the tuition hike. As of today, it has over 300 signatories. I am ambivalent about this idea, as I think it is supposed to be on-going and open-ended and I worry about stamina. I do believe at this point, that massive direct action is one critical way to get the Regent's, UCOP's and UCOF's attention. Their managerial ethos seems somehow fundamentally in ignorance of the aims of public higher ed.
The strike-call is here: http://ucstrike.com/.
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ReplyDeleteIn reference to UCOP/Regents/UCOF, what does 'get their attention' mean exactly? There is no binding mechanism by which the stakeholders/thepublic can ensure UC management does one thing or another.
ReplyDeleteThis points to the real need to move beyond a narrowly economic reactionary program ('no fee hikes, no job cuts'), towards a positive political-economic one ('yes to more democratic Regents').
When the Regents approve the fee hikes despite protests (or slip through hikes in a less visible way at another date), the necessity of shifting this frame will become painfully more clear.