Spring 2010 Local Election
See the candidates' statements below. For election results, see the following article.
Candidate for President
Kathryn Klar, Lecturer, Celtic Studies, UCB, kkestrel@berkeley.edu (incumbent)
Things are all fouled up in California, and even worse at UC. But if you reelect me, I’ll keep working with all of you to protect our jobs, our benefits, and our working conditions as best we can.
Candidate for Vice-President
Karen MacLeod, Academic Specialist, UCSF, kmac@phy.ucsf.edu (incumbent)
I am excited about running for re-election to the UC-AFT local 1474 executive board as Vice-President. I have belonged to UC-AFT for about seven years and have served on the E-Board for the last four. Prior to holding an academic appointment at UCSF I was in the UPTE technical unit where I gained much of my union experience. In addition to being the UCSF UPTE President for several years I was a volunteer organizer for several successful organizing drives, on the bargaining team, and an elected member of the UPTE state wide E-Board. I also gained valuable experience serving as the co-chair of the UPTE system wide grievance committee and by planning and participating in several legislative efforts.
Organizing is a passion of mine and I have a vision for our local in the upcoming year. If elected, I would work to expand our local’s internal organizing program in order to bring our lecturer and librarian membership numbers up, and to increase our visibility in order to increase our bargaining strength. A solid, strongly organized unit of rank and file members makes for better contracts. I will work with our local executive board to educate and involve more of our members so we can build member power and bargain more effectively.
Candidate for Secretary
Virginia Abascal, Lecturer, Berkeley Law, UCB, virginiaabascal@sbcglobal.net (currently member-at-large)
I have served two terms as Member-At-Large and presently am running for Secretary of our Local which I have belonged to for 12 years.The Union is extremely important to Lecturers and Librarians at UC providing an inter campus organization which is committed to supporting faculty excellence, faculty rights and recognition which are a crucial part of a great University.
Candidates for Member-at-Large
Joi Barrios, Lecturer of Filipino and Philippine Literature, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, UCB, joibarrios@berkeley.edu and mjbarrio2@mac.com
I would like to serve as a Board Member because I would like to work towards building a stronger union. Although I am relatively new in the university, having been appointed only in 2008, I have been active in the struggle against budget cuts. I am committed to work actively as we prepare for upcoming negotiations. I hope we can do this by: face-to-face organizing, reaching out to all members in each and every department; scheduling town hall meetings where all lecturers can come together to discuss plans of action; working to have a union office on-campus or close to campus; and strengthening our solidarity with students, university workers, and senate faculty. I hope to bring to AFT my experience as an organizer at the University of the Philippines academic union, where we successfully fought to have the first academic union on campus and have an elected faculty member serve in the Board of Regents. I am committed to being accessible to everyone in person, by email or by phone.
Harrison Dekker, Librarian, Research and Collections, Doe Library, UCB, hdekker@library.berkeley.edu (librarians' bargaining representative)
I have been employed at Doe Library as Coordinator of Data Services since 2002. As a second generation UC Berkeley employee, I am particularly passionate about maintaining the quality of this institution. Crucial to this is our ability to hire, develop, and retain the best employees at all ranks. I believe that without strong collective bargaining, this will be impossible to achieve. I have previously served as the librarians’ bargaining representative, local vice-president, and local president. I have also helped to improve communication among our members by developing the local and systemwide UC-AFT website and by conducting research and analysis to support librarians’ negotiations with management.
Kaya Oakes, Lecturer, College Writing Programs, UCB, kaya_o@berkeley.edu
For the past decade, I have been a member of the College Writing Programs faculty. As an all-lecturer program, CWP faculty occupy a unique place on the Berkeley campus, and AFT has been helpful to us many times in the past. With the increasing threats to the excellent work lecturers do across campus and throughout the UC system, I feel an increasing commitment to ensuring fair treatment and providing opportunities to lecturer faculty. In addition to teaching, I frequently serve on reading and writing related committees across campus, and have a busy second life as a writer. I’m also proud to be a second-generation AFT member; my mother is a retired elementary school teacher and district administrator. Please feel free to email me if you’d like to hear more about what I hope to accomplish on the executive board: kaya_o@berkeley.edu.
Diane Pearson, Lecturer, Ethnic Studies Department, jdp@berkeley.edu (incumbent)
I am dedicated to fair treatment of lecturers at all levels and in all departments. I am also devoted to providing research and publication opportunities, retention of retirement benefits, fair teaching loads, and departmental cooperation and recognition of lecturers. I am committed to maintaining contract viability, and the MOU supporting a stable, professional teaching faculty.
I have taught American Indian Studies at U.C.B. for six years, and before that, taught American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona, Tucson. I was a corporate executive before doing my doctorate and have always supported union activities and fair-play agendas in corporate America. I am firmly committed to extending these agendas to educational institutions. I have also seen our union at work and am proud to be a part of such a dedicated group of professionals.
Keiko Yamanaka, Lecturer, Ethnic Studies Department/Asian Studies, UCB, yamanaka@berkeley.edu
Keiko Yamanaka had to leave the country for a family medical emergency shortly after she agreed to run for member-at-large. She did not have time to write a statement before she left, but she confirmed that she will be pleased to serve, if elected.
To vote, make sure you have the password you received by email, then click on this link for the UCB Online Voting Booth:
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