Last night, UC union members equipped with mock tombstones met outside the San Francisco home of regent Richard Blum (you might have heard of his wife, Senator Dianne Feinstein) to protest what spokesperson Rik Sandoval (a cook at UCSF) described as “unnecessary excess that the taxpayers of California — people like you and me — are footing the bill for.”
Citing pension shortfalls, furloughs, and layoffs of rank and file UC employees, Sandoval said “all we want is to get to sit down and talk with with the Regents, but they refuse.”
Sandoval brought up issues like the current renovation of UC President’s mansion, which he says is costing taxpayers $10 million, and a recent memo limiting executives to $75 bottles of wine when dining out on the UC dime, saying “ask those executives what they’re doing to contribute to the sacrifice!” Well, Rik, we tried, but our calls to Yudof’s and the Regent’s office haven’t been responded to as of publication.
“The regents need to take responsibility for the bad decisions they’ve made that have gotten us to this point. That’s why we’re protesting, and will continue to protest,” said Sandoval.
