April 29, 2002 - More than a dozen student activists occupy UMass Amherst Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Javier Cevallos' office, echoing the successful living-wage sit-in at Harvard.
Unlike the 3 week occupation at Harvard, UMass felt no compulsion to negotiate and removed the activists hog-tied with plastic handcuffs within about three hours, and down the stairs on stretchers. UMass police have purchased a former INS bus for just such festive occasions.
The video ends as the last of the dozen sit-in activists are arrested, including camera and cameraperson. The camera and videotape were held for more than 4 months by police.
The day's story continues outside, in the cold April drizzle, as police are forced to arrest more than 20 more students in a spontaneous blockade of the bus, making it the largest mass arrest at UMass since the Vietnam War thirty years earlier.
Ultimately, UMass is forced to negotiate with the RA union, and UAW Local 2322 becomes the first in the nation to represent undergraduate workers at a public university.
July 31, 2002 UMass Amherst, UAW Issue Joint Announcement on RAs http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/archive/2002/073102raunion.html AMHERST, Mass. - The University of Massachusetts Amherst and United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2322 announced today that they have reached an agreement to begin collective bargaining of a contract that would cover the resident assistants and community development assistants in the University's residence halls. The resident assistants (RAs) voted to unionize on March 5, 2002, and the state labor relations commission certified the results of the election, but the University had refused to bargain with the union and had asked the labor commission to reconsider their certification.
................................. Boston Globe UMass sit-in ends with 34 arrests
Resident assistants press labor dispute with administration
By Andrew C. Helman, Globe Correspondent, 4/30/2002
A group of 34 students and union activists were arrested at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst yesterday after they staged a sit-in to protest the school's refusal to bargain with the fledgling resident assistants union, said Barbara Pitoniak, university spokeswoman. At 12:30 p.m., 15 protesters swarmed into the office of the vice chancellor for student affairs and another 75 pickets gathered outside the administration building, university officials and students said.
The protesters were trying to force the university to bargain with the 360-member resident assistants union, which became the first of its kind in the nation when it formed in March.
The university maintains that RAs are an integral part of the education process and should not be unionized.
Yesterday as protesters chanted ''union power, union power,'' and vowed to occupy the vice chancellor's office until the university submitted to their demands, police moved in.
Fourteen of the 15 went limp, forcing police to remove them on stretchers, according to university officials.As police brought the protesters onto a bus, another group sat inthe road, locking arms and blocking the way.
Police made 19 more arrests. Those arrested are expected to be charged with trespassing and resisting arrest, said UMass police spokesman Jim Lyons.
''We are sitting in here for our own beliefs, I guess, until either the university bargains with us or sets a date to bargain with us or until the police come in and take us out,'' said Angela Zammarelli, 20, a junior resident assistant reached by cellphone during the sit-in yesterday.
''It's sad that in a time that they are cutting different departments on campus > they are spending money fighting the union.''
Union members filed 13 unfair labor practice charges against the university last month, one of which sought to force the university to bargainwith the group. While the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission reviews the charges, university officials have said they will not bargain with the union regardless of the commission's ruling. ''As you know the university has taken a position on this and has refused to bargain,'' Pitoniak said.
This story ran on page B2 of the Boston Globe on 4/30/2002. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Globe article and alert about the 35 arrests: UMASS ARRESTS 35 AT UNION DIRECT ACTION http://www.louisville.edu/journal/workplace/issue5/umassarrests.html
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