U of M Labor and Community Strike Support Committee

Phyllis Walker, Clerical Local 3800 President said, “We wish to thank the many thousands across the state who have given us support, including faculty, students, unions and community members. We are energized to build a world class union. We are confident that we will do that before the administration builds a world class University. Bruininks and Sullivan have an agenda of more money for the rich, more free research for corporations, and education only for the elite. Their agenda shuts working class Minnesotans out of the University.”

48 Join the Hunger Strike in Support of University of Minnesota Strikers

45 students, 2 staff members and 1 community member have begun a 24-hour Solidarity Hunger Strike in support of the U of M Hunger Strikers for Justice and the members of the AFSCME unions who are on strike. The Solidarity Hunger Strikers have committed to fast in support of the struggle for a fair contract for U of M AFSCME workers. They are joining the hunger strike out of frustration with the University administration's obstinate refusal to negotiate fairly with the unions.

... the Executive Board of SEIU Local 73 supports our sisters and brothers on strike at the University of Minnesota in their righteous fight for a fair contract; ...

One undergraduate student took the initiative to contact her dean, to speak out against faculty and instructors being pressured to keep classes on campus during the strike. This letter could be used by others to support their teachers who are taking their classes off campus.

We, the undersigned graduate students of the Department of Philosophy, are writing to you to express our disappointment with your
administration’s failure to provide a living wage to the clerical, technical and medical staff here at the University of Minnesota.

We, the faculty and chairs of the American Indian Studies Department, the African and African American Studies Department, the Chicano Studies, and the Asian American Studies Program, write to express solidarity with the AFSCME workers and those who support them in striving to achieve a contract that compensates University clerical, healthcare, and technical workers with an acceptable and just wage. We urge you to return to negotiations and reach an agreement that acknowledges the importance and significance of their labor in building this institution.

We, the Students for a Democratic Society of Chapel Hill, express our
complete support for the University of Minnesota's clerical, technical
and healthcare workers' struggle for a fair contract and a living wage.