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Rally for Custodian RIghts!

A protest by UW custodians and their families yesterday made it clear to UW Custodial Services that swing-shift custodians would not move to the day shift without a fight.

Swing-shift custodians at the UW have been fighting to stay on their current shift of 4:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. since UW Custodial Services announced in March that the 85 custodians currently on the shift would be forced to move to the day shift.

As a lead in to yesterday’s special Board of Regents meeting, more than 100 people marched and chanted from Red Square to the Northlake Building, which houses the UW’s Custodial Services. The protesters blocked the front door of the building and demanded that Gene Woodard, director of Custodial Services, rescind his decision to move swing-shift custodians to the day shift or be fired.

“Gene has to go!” the crowd shouted repeatedly.

The protestors were composed of a broad scope of UW community members, including custodians, students, UW faculty and non-custodial staff.

“Time is running out,” said Mehereteab Mengistu, a swing-shift custodian who was present at the protest. “They don’t respect us.”

Swing-shift custodians are scheduled to start working the day shift this coming Monday.

The protest was fueled in part by a negotiation meeting that took place Wednesday between the union representing UW custodians, Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) Local 1488 and UW Custodial Services.

In the meeting, UW Custodial Services made it known that they were firm in their decision to transfer swing-shift custodians to the day shift.

“There is no flexibility here,” said Salvador Castillo, executive vice president of WFSE 1488. “They [UW Custodial Services] have not agreed to leave more than eight people on swing shift.”

The prevailing concern among the protesters was the impact the move will have on custodians whose livelihoods depend on them working the swing shift.

“My wife works in the daytime, and I take care of my children when she’s working,” said Neztereab Seare, a swing-shift custodian of 20 years. “Also, if I go to the day shift, my salary won’t be enough because I have child support to pay.”

Concerns like Seare’s drove the protestors to speak directly to Woodard. The protesters shouted and demanded that Woodard come out of the building to speak. With no success, the protestors attempted to enter the building, but five UW police officers stopped them.

“We knew that they were going to march,” said Assistant Chief Ray Wittmier of the UW Police Department (UWPD). “We assigned a couple of light patrol generally to provide safety while they cross the street.”

However, the officers did allow three of the custodians to enter the building to see if Woodard was there. When they came outside informing the protestors that he was not there, they began shouting “coward.”

John Frazier, WFSE 1488’s newly elected president, had control of the megaphone during the majority of the protest.

“We’re going to start setting these up all the time until this thing is done and our people are okay,” he said. “Just to make sure that, at the end of the day, our workers are treated fairly.”

The protesters left Northlake Building with one final declaration.

“We’ll be back,” Frazier yelled into the megaphone.

The majority of the crowd moved on to participate in the special Board of Regents meetings to speak to the regents on behalf of the custodians.

妳以為妳可以只是玩玩
沉迷在短暫肢體的可能
省略情緒的後果
妳最多在離開時親吻她額頭
但她眼裡的某些東西無預警地
引起妳的注視。使妳想要更靠近
讓妳留了下來。那琥珀、水晶般
霓虹、陰鬱的夜晚假說。必定是
那街燈，滲透進了窗口發覺
妳未出口的慾望
想要更靠近。妳以為

必定是那類似在陌生國度旅行
的新鮮感，使得她留下
這間旅館裡的浪漫程度
任由酒精的濃度而更改
妳們同時都遺失了地圖
在這陌生的城市，碰巧
說著同一種語言並
覺得彼此都還長得可愛
於是就回到同一張床上
蜷曲擁抱著彼此的身體
渴望
家。但那必定不是一齣意外
當妳環抱著她時，發覺
她的身體像是關於家的概念
那麼熟悉

妳以為比起愛的災難
無愛的孤獨算不了什麼
但那個公園的夏日午後
穿過她髮線的每一絲光
剝落妳心的厚繭。每一個吻
哀悼妳再也不會看見的大愛
美好悲劇。必定是
那些高中制服少女的電影
抽象現實的難度
無論是那配著草原電音的愛撫鏡頭
或是她靠著妳的肩膀而她的髮
聞起來像是大麻籽麝香雨水或
妳肋骨中荒蕪的島嶼，妳都被
說服了，妳們將有的簡易和平
未來。必定是

愛的悲傷阻止了妳對她傾倒
所有感情或者甜美夢境。妳以為
妳可以只是玩玩，但這快樂
搗亂著妳的心跳像是星河的波
那裡過去是一片四度空間的大霧
當她在妳耳裡細語關於
愛。妳的宇宙以她雙唇的中心
安靜地
旋轉

Student, UWPD clash During May Day Rally

Student groups — including Democracy Insurgent, Jobs with Justice, First Nations and Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlán (MEChA) — rallied at Red Square before joining the citywide May Day march for immigration rights on Friday.

May Day is an annual celebration for immigrant rights when participants express concern for better treatment of immigrant populations. However, this year, a disagreement broke out when UW police told protesters to put away their megaphones.

“They [police] came to the leaders [of the protest] and said if we continued to use the megaphone, we would be arrested,” senior Renato Mendoza said.

Police cited Code 132N-15-180 to the students, who then looked up the Washington Adminstrative Code.

“After we looked it up, we found that [the code number] was the incorrect one,” Mendoza said.

Students argued with UW police about whether or not they could use the megaphones after they researched the law police had given them and discovered that it didn’t exist. The actual Washington Administrative Code — 132N-150-180 — differed by one number from the law police had cited.

The code pertaining to megaphone use on college campuses reads, “Bull horns, amplifiers and other electronic devices that disrupt college programs or operations are prohibited on college property.”

Police reasoned with the protestors for more than half an hour before they put away the megaphones, UW Police Department (UWPD) Chief John Vinson said.

However, megaphones were used in an anti-budget cut and tuition-hike rally that took place last month and was sponsored by ASUW — the students involved in that rally, which marched through campus, were not told by police to put away their megaphones. Megaphones have also been used throughout this year by student groups such as Democracy Insurgent, Huskies for Israel and Students for Justice in Palestine, as well as for President Obama’s inauguration-day rally. In none of these instances were students told they were not allowed to use their megaphones.

Vinson said the officer who approached the students informed the group that she didn’t know how other officers previously enforced the code, but that it was her job to enforce it at that time.

“If an officer gives you a lawful order, we expect you to follow it,” Vinson said. Disobeying a college security officer giving a lawful order is considered an obstruction of justice.

After the rally in Red Square, student groups — including Democracy Insurgent, Jobs with Justice, First Nations and MEChA — joined approximately 1,000 protestors in the citywide march that began in Seattle’s Central District and ended in Pioneer Square.

Demonstrators downtown said they had no problems demonstrating for immigrants’ rights.

“We haven’t been bothered by police [in Seattle] at all,” said UW senior Elizabeth Snow during the rally. “They’re just staying on the sidewalks, making sure that everything’s okay.”