UC Berkeley students protest Chancellor Christ's commencement speech over labor negotiations
BERKELEY — UC Berkeley students turned their backs on Chancellor Carol Christ and waved green banners supporting the campus’ service labor union, which recently went on a three-day strike, on Saturday.
The labor negotiation between the flagship UC campus and the union, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, are still ongoing. AFSCME 3299 rejected a new contract proposed by UC in April and went on a three-day labor strike on campus.
Because of the labor strike, Sen. Kamala Harris withdrew as commencement speaker for the Class of 2018. When senior class president Jessica Li-Jo acknowledged Harris’s withdrawal, groans and some boos reverberated around California Memorial Stadium.
Soon after Li-Jo’s speech, Christ took the podium to give hers. And the students began to move, turning their backs.
Read more: https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2018/05/12/uc-berkeley-students-protest-chancellor-christs-commencement-speech-over-labor-negotiatons/