(T4e £fx tioan Du113 Eighty-three years of editorial freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Thursday, September 12, 1974 News Phone: 764-0552 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104 Need before gradepoint By REBECCA WARNER AT NOON TODAY, United Farm Work- ers (UFW) First Vice President Do- lores Huerta will speak at a Diag rally marking the International Grape and Lettuce Boycott Days. Huerta's appear- ance here will also kick off a local "Goodby to Gallo" campaign aimed at making further inroads into city non- union wine sales. The Ann Arbor Boycott Committee, one of the city's most enduring and hardest- working political organizations, has spent years trying to convince local shoppers and merchants to boycott non-UFW grapes and lettuce. The fall offensive, according to organizers, will focus on wine stores, beginning with Saturday picketing at the offending stores. "Gallo is really hurting nationwide," to push 1973, but UFW sources estimate the sal- es drop at 23 per cent. PICKETERS will ask shoppers not to buy Gallo or Guild, the two major Cali- fornia wine brands. Guild has recently introduced Cribari wine to the Ann Ar- bor area. "We think that's because they have lost sales in Wisconsin and Min- nesota," Super explains. Presently, none of Ann Arbor's stores sell exclusively UFW grapes, lettuce or wine, although the University residence halls have all agreed to stock union pro- duce. Huerta, the highest-ranking female un- ion official in the country, has partici- pated in a struggle which began for agri- cultural workers in the early 1960s. Since that time, the farm workers have scored numerous successes and negotiat- ed contracts with big growers w h i c h radically changed the wages, hiring pol- icies, and conditions in the produce fields. 0 TONIGHT THE STUDENT Govern- ment Council meets for the first time this term. Once again, a pro- posal which can only bring chaos to SGC and division to the student body is being brought forward. Council members Matthewsiand Hoffman are insisting that the SGC back the LSA faculty resolution of last winter to shift "some" financial aid from the most needy to those with the best gradepoint. This resolution was not very subtle repudiation of the Uni- versity's commitment of 10 per cent black enrollment by 1973-74-which is still far from being achieved. In the face of a strike by three- quarters of the student body, with support from many faculty and the AFSCME workers, the University in 1970 agreed to the demands of the Black Action Movement (BAM) for 10 per cent black enrollment and the necessary supportive services to make this possible. JN 1970, THE MAJORITY of white students supported BAM's de- mands, recognizing that special measures on a massive scale were re- quired to overcome the long tradition of racism and discrimination at the University and in American society. Today, the skyrocketing cost of at- tending the University has resulted in declining applications from all but upper middle and upper class stu- dents, as Admissions Director Clifford Sjorgen reported to the LSA faculty on Monday. Most of us are hard hit by these rising costs, but this is especially true for minority and working class stu- dents. Financial aid to all students must be increased, but not at the expense of those who need it most. The LSA resolution should be re- scinded, not applauded. Not only is the resolution bad policy, it is based on the false assumption that there is now no financial aid given based on ability. I PERHAPS THE LSA governing fac- ulty did not know any better. Certainly, in the light of Acting LSA Dean Billy Frye's criticism of fail- ures by the University to substan- tially increase minority employment and Admission's Director Sjorgen's related report on low minority en- rollment, the faculty should recon- sider their stance of last winter. For SGC to endorse the resolution and the falsehood on which it is based would make a mockery of SGC as a representative of students. THE UNKINDEST CUT in the at- tempt to line up SGC behind the LSA resolution is that it would un- dermine the bargaining efforts of 2,200 of SGC's constituents in the Graduate Employes Organization (GEO). GEO bargainers are propos- ing to the University an affirmative action program to bring employment of black, Chicano, Native American, and women employes up to percen- tages in line with their proportion in the state population. SGC should sup- port this GEO effort to overcome the heritage of racism and male suprem- acy, instead of passing a resolution that would encourage the Univer- sity in its course of continuing to use subjective and discriminatory cri- teria in admission and financial aid awards. As a minimum, SGC should reject the proposed backing for the LSA resolution. Even better, SGC should pass a resolution reaffirming support for the BAM demands, for the princi- ple of full integration of the Univer- sity's student body and work force, and for the current efforts of GEO along these lines. STUDENTS ARE URGED to attend tonight's SGC meeting to see how their representatives stand. The pro- posal is due to come up at 8 p.m., 3rd floor, Michigan Union. -MARNIE HEYN wine oc Paradoxically, the farm workers, some forts, of the most oppressed and least legal- est i ly protected employes in the nation, have try. built a most viable union, in that it store, speaks directly and forcefully for i t s signif membership. The UFW has managed to store, gather a broad political base and na- Hue tional support. prese finite SHOPPERS ALL over the U.S. have responded to the farmworkers' efforts TIH by boycotting scab products. But in 1973, and 1 grape growers confronted with unde- ganiz niable proof that the UFW had strong consu worker support, borrowed a tactic used head by lettuce growers, signing "sweetheart" gathe contracts with the Teamsters union. Inter( Teamster interference brought a new comm crisis for the UFW. Workers went out 7:30 on strike, only to face brutal harassment We from the. Teamsters and police authori- eatini ties. us, it Locally, the Teamsters' collusion with To fe the growers brought new picketing ef- tweer po tec tire ycott which focused on A&P, the larg- ceberg lettuce sellers in the coun- Picketing at the Huron Ave. A&P s slowed business to a trickle, and icant inroads were made at other s. erta is optimistic about the UFW's nt position, claimirig, "We've de- ly started to have real impact." E ANN ARBOR Boycott Committee MECHA, the University Chicano or- ation, will use today's rally to ask mers to boycott non-UFW grapes, lettuce and wine, as well as to r support for upcoming picketing. ested people can also attend the nittee's next meeting Monday at p.m. in Alice Lloyd's Klein lounge. can all afford to think twice about g or buying non-UFW products. To t may mean delayed gratification. armworkers, it's the difference be- n near-slavery and a decent life. laws says committee director David According to Super, Gallo admits ing lost 19 per cent of Its wine since the boycott effort began -ERA By JOYCE MAUPIN THE EQUAL Rights Amend- ment, fruit of a 50 year struggle by the women's move- ment, may wipe out the laws that ensure healthful and safe conditions for women workers. A recent ruling by California's Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) makes women in this state equal to men - in their lack of on-the-job-legal protec- tion. California, like many states, has had regulations limiting working hours, requiring rest and meal periods, restricting weight to be lifted and gener- ally providing special protection to women workers. Now California courts m u s t decide whether these "women- only" protective laws are un- constitutional under the Equal Rights Amendment, which pro- vides that no legal rights can be denied "on account of se." The amendment has been rati- fied by 33 states of 33 needed to make it the law of the lard. IN JUNE of this year, Cali- fornia's IWC - charged with regulating wages, hours and working conditions for women and minors - announced ~ew work rules for women which virtually do away wi'h such long-guaranteed rightseas the 10 minute coffee break every four hours; overtime pay after eight hours in a day or over 40 hours in a week; and the half-hour lunch period after five hours. The new work rules allow a ten hour day without overtime: re- move restrictions on the number of hours worked in a week, and eliminate scheduled rest per- iods, rest fancilities and o t h e r health protections. A I a s t - minute injunction has stalled implementation of the new rul- es. Professional women working in offices see laws that limit their working hour as a ba- to getting ahead - a view con- firmed by employers, who often cite these restrictions a an ex- cuse for denying wmen ad- vancement. But for women who make their living doiaP physical labor, the vast majority of them unorganized, sucn laws offer their only protetio, against overwork and harsh conditions. PROTECTIVE I e g i s 1 a t ion grew out of workers' dsmands for better pay and working con- ditions in the period of r a p i d industrialization that followed the Civil War. Early in the cen- tury, nmillions of men in skilled trades had joined the American Federation of Labor and won an eight hour day, better wages and improved working condi- tions through collective bargain- ing. But of 8 million women in the work force in 1910, less than one per cent were in unions. Even today, only 12 percent of working women are in unions, against 25 per cent of working Super. to hav- market in fall See the world: Join the Daily threatens men. Many women worked 14 to 16 hours a day in sweatshop condi- tions. Finding themselves re- jected or ignored by union or- ganizers, women workers (and reform groups fighting to im- prove their conditions, like the Women's Trade Union League and the Consumer's League) turned to legislative remedies. EARLY attempts to limit hours for all workers were foTnd unconstitutional, on } .. grounds that they interfered with the workers' "freedom of 1 contract." Then, in 1907, the Supreme Court in Mller vs. Oregon declared that hours re- strictions and other special laws for women were constitutional because "women are funda- mentally weaker than men." This onened the door for pro- tective legislation. THE EOUAL Rights Amend- mont grew out of the women's *. s'iffrage movement. Women workers were more concerned UNIVERSI with dav-to-day survival than the striker with winning the vote, and the employes i sffraae movement drew most of its sunnort from middle-clasd women. Its militant wing the used the Ci National Women's Party, not 1964 as a pr content with getting the vote in ing special 1920. introduced the Eaal men. Firebo Richts Amendment into Con- Antioch, Cal cress in 1923, in essentially the ple, required same form in which it was hour "back-t raQsed 50 years later. 150 pounds a The amendment immediately up rest and caused a deep conflict which the grounds t continies today between midle- Act forbidsc class feminists, who seek legal ed on race eauality, and women workers a California who see the amendment as a cided that th potential threat to protective le- Company w gislation. criminating Amendment backers claim employee by that some of the sunnort for wetifting nrotective laws comes from weightlifting male unionists eager to prevent DESPITE wonmen from comneting for jobs. nhfenders of nrntective lpaicla- signs, most w Non renlv that the amendment the Equal R is endorsed by emnloyer gro" ns would be les eager to abolish standards tained any which are costly to maintain. such as "thi THE SENATE nassed t h e strued to inv amendment twice, in 1950 and bor standard 153, both times with a rider. Passage of added at the renuest of labor, ment hadi snecifving that no protective Shortlv after legilation would be affected. the amendm In the House, the amendment America in S was bottled un in committee ~n ned urovidinF til it was revived by the wo~ leaving work men's movement of the late Tndustries, a 19F0's. . ifornia mann Finally, in 1970, a "pure" ed rest per equal rights amendment without the gronds ounalifving language, sonsored none for m h" the National Oreani7ntion of Inc., a nati Women (NOW) and a long list household w of women's professional and so- fornia court cial organizations, was brought that it was before the House to enthusiastic pay women anolause. It received the sup- time-and-a-ha port of President Nixon and hours of a 1 the U.S. Chamber of Commer- thonlh these ce. domestics to Some employers had already against. TONIGHT AT THE DAILY (420 Maynard, next to the SAB) at 7:30 there will be a mass meeting for all the folks who are interested in working here during the coming months. We'd like yours to be among the shining faces gathered to offer themselves up to cranking out a daily newspaper. About 40 of us devoted our fatigued intellects and deflated egos to pro- ducing a high-quality news source and reader-oriented paper last year. We think we did pretty well, under TODAY'S STAFF: News:. Dan Biddle, Stephen Hersh, Cindy Hill, Judy Ruskin, Sue Step- henson, Paul Terwilliger, Becky Warner Editorial Page: Marnie Heyn, David Warren, Sue Wilhelm Arts Page: Jeff Sorensen Photo technician: Ken Fink the circumstances. The circum- stances can change for our poor ov- erworked staff, but only if you show up to help. We need writers and layout wizards for each and every staff. We need ad salespeople, circulation geniuses, and delivery masochists. We need people to answer the phones and clip the wires. And there's one opening for an experienced staff photographer (meeting at 8:30, same night, same address). Cartoonists and people who can spell are especially welcome. THE EXPERIENCE IS great, even if the fringe benefits are a mite meager. And for all you coke-a-holics, The Daily still subsidizes the habit for five cents a shot. We need you, and this community needs the best newspaper we can turn out. Join up: you have only your sanity to lose, and all the world to gain. -MARNIE HEYN vil Rights Act of retext for eliminat- standards for wo- ard Corporation, in ifornia, for exam- women to work 16 o-back" shifts, lift minute, and give lunch periods, on hat the Civil Rights discrimination bas- or sex. In 1968, District Court de- e Southern Pacific as unlawfully dis- against a woman T denying her pro- account or state limits. these warning women's groups felt Rights Amendment s ponular if it con- modifying clause s shall not be con- alidate existing ]a- Is" the "n"re" amend- immediate efferts. California ratified ent, the Bank of an Francisco ston- g taxis for women at night. Norris large southern Cal- nfacturer, eliminat- ods for women on that -here were en. Homemakers. onal contractor of orkers, won a Cli- decision stating discriminatorv to household workers alf for the last four .2-hour shift - al- are almost no male be discriminated TY EMPLOYES picket during the 1971 AFSCME strike here. A large proportion of s were women who work at low-paying maintenance and food service jobs. Women in Michigan still have some protection under the law. Labor women concerned about these results are now pushing for extension of protective laws to men. PRESSED by the newly-form- ed Union Women's Alliance to Gain Equality (Union WA.G.E.) the California state legislature did pass a bill extending protec- tive laws to men in 1972 - which was vetoed by Governor Reagan. A watered-down ver- sion, giving the Industrial Wel- fare Commission "power to ex- tend" protective laws to all workers, was signed into law in 1973. A similar law was pass- ed in the state of Washington. That state's Department of La- bor and Industries has since abolished all special protections for women. California's IWC, created in 1913, is appointed by 'he Gov- ernor and traditionally contains equal representationfrom labor and management. It nresentlv includes representatives from the state's three largest employ- ers of women - agriculture, food, and ele^-roni-s - the wife of a food chain owner, and a Teamster's Union official. Iike department of labor regulations in other states, IWC rulings have the force of law. WHEN THE Commission held a hearing about its new regna- tions, men representing Califor- nia's largest corporations filled every seat. Women workers sat in the aisles as officers of Stan- dard Oil, U.S. Steel, and the California Association of Masi- facturers told the Commission that overtime pay and re 'ric- tions on work hours placed in- tolerable burdens on California industry. The new rules were formally adopted at a public meeting on April 24 - despite 29 petitions for a rehearing, including one from NOW. The only dissenting vote was cast by Teamster Commissioner Mike Elnorduy. The change was to be effective June 1. An injunction preventing the Commission from promulgating the new rules was granted by San Francisco Superior.Court Judge Victor Campilongo. Tfo laws suits were filed by the state AFL-CIO, whichtargues that the 1973 law gives the IWC power to extend - not remove - protective legislation, a n d three women in Sacramento who charge that the IWC is depriv- ing them of protections which they asumed were guaranteed when they accepted employ- ment. The IWC has appealed the injunction. USE OF the Equal Rights Amendment to equalize down- wards by states like California and Washington is convincing labor organizations to pusn for protective laws which ex*end to all workers. Jog ce Mau/un has been a trade unionist for 40 years. In recent years she has been a shop steward for Office and Profes- sional Workers Local, No. 29 in San Francisco. She is thb an.- thor of "Pioneers of Women's Liberation," in Voices of the New Feminism (Beacon Press) and wrtes on child care and 'working nomen's problems for a variety of women's Inaga-. lines and labor publications. Copyright Pacific News Serv- ice 1974. 'THE sGErAWAVe CA1; , Letters to The Daily AFSCHE To The Daily: MUCH HAS been heard at the Uniersity of the differences be- tween two unions'-- AFSCME and the United Automobile Workers. But, obviously, enough has not been said about the sin- gle, crucial difference between these two unions - a difference that cannot be stressed enough and that has been grossly mis- represented by some of the UAW supporters. I refer, of course, to the fact that AFS- PUPms a ininfn . ili will work state-wide and nation- ally for bettering our wages, working conditions, and bene- fits, without placing the n u g e burden of payment on our own backs as taxpayers. It is our right as public employes to ex- pect wage and benefit equality. The UAW has little experience in this field (with one small public emoloyes' union of 125 people). Its expertise is in the private industry field -- it has negotiated with profit-making management. The University of Michiqan is not such a .itiiaton. . ,I ,.- ,- - - - for collective bargaining rights, unemployment compensation, minimum wage laws, improved pensions, etc. AFSCME is work- ing toward federal laws for pub- lic employes. The Automobile Workers, whose first priority is the private employe, has not. AFSCME works to get better wages and fringe benefits for public employes without increas- ing their taxes. When we look for strergti - this is what we find. The strength of the United S t e e Workers lies in the steel irdus- ly their priority is the automo- bile workers. If their negotiat- ing strength had to be div-ded between a UAW local in Detroit and a UAW local here, wher- do you think their first priority would be? Certainly, not wth us. That's what being second- rate can mean. Public empioves are AFSCME's ighest nriority -in fact, they are AFSCME's only nriority. AFSCMF's loval- ty and clout are not divided, but remain cohesive and singula-ly powerful in determination. TT- _ _ _ _ '\l drt _ _11 ^ with public employees' lobby- ing and negotiating. In t h i s new American era cf credibility, examine the facts, weigh this crucial difference in your own mind, and chdose the honesty, commitment, and exonrience of AFSCME. We as public em- ployes deserve a strong voice in our employment futures - and AFSCME will be our vehicle to success. If we pass up this chance, we have no one 'to blame but ourselves. .-Grtchen Gnur