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June 03, 1971 - Image 1

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
Michigan Daily, 1971-06-03

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A6F '' '
:4)ZtttU
Vol. C'm t t n
LXXXI, No. 21-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Thursday, June 3, 1971 Ten Cents Eight Pages

STUDENT EMPLOYE Bern Pedit yesterday pickets with a sympathizer outside the Student Publi-
cations Bldg. Pedit claims he was fired at one point for attempting to join the University workers'
union.
Employe stages protest
at publications bui~lding

Bid for back
pay rejected
i bias case
By ROSE SUE BERSTEIN
The University has refused to pay a higher salary and
back wages to a woman employe who claims a male em-
ploye, in the same job classification with the same duties,
receives a higher salary.
The decision was announced at yesterday's meeting
of the University's Commission on Women.
Cheryl Clark, a Research Assistant with the Highway
Safety Research Institute (HSRI), filed complaint last
Jan. 26, charging the University with sex discrimination.
Clark's case is now under -
consideration by the women's
commission, which has devised
a procedure of checking by
computer for instances of job
discrimination, as part of t h e
University's affirmative action
plan for the equal employment lb
of women.j
Clark's case. gains signi-
ficance as it may constitute the
first substantive test of the Uni- w W ekws
tiated with the Department of The two local radicals ached-
Health, Education and Welfare uled to appear before the De-
(HEW) after HEW charged the troit federal grand jury yes-
University with sex discrimi- terday have had their court date
nation and withheld federal set back until June 15, to per-
contract eligibility. mit additional time for prepar-
Clark's department h e a d , ing their legal response.
HSRI Asst. Director William The pair, Ken Kelley and
McCormick, returned her com- Terry Taube, had been active
plaint Feb. 2 with his decision in local radical politics in re-
of rejection. McCormick stated c yar adclp artici-
at that time, "I therefore reject cent years and recently partici-
the claim that discrimination gatedk nanti-warorganizing.
based on sex has occured in A week ago they wereserved
yourwith subpoenaes requiring ap-
your slry m in argetio." pearance before the jury, which
Mc Corm i ck argued that is one of many apparently in-
Clark's claim of salary differ- vestigating a wide-range of re-
ential between her and the male cent political activities-includ-
employe, Joel Epstein, also a ing the March 1 bombing of the
Research Associate, "is in fact U.S. Capitol and the Mayday
within the range dictated by demonstrations.
sound salary and wage discrim-
ination." Kelley yesterday praised the
Clark's. complaint then went delay, saying it would help to
Feb. 16 to the University Com- give his lawyer William Good-
plaint Review Committee. Clark man time to give advice on the
spoke before the Committee on jury's questioning. Goodman re-
March 16, explaining her posi- quested the postponement yes-
tion and what she felt were in- terday.
equities. She urged that her Both Kelley and Taube have
salary be increased to $13,200, asked community support for
retroactive to last Jan. 1. Ep- their opposition to the jury's ac-
See 'U', Page 2 tivities

By ROBERT SCHREINER
A student employe in the
print shop at the Student
Publications Building yesterday
began a three-day protest and
fast to force action on a list
of five labor grievances he
claims have been ignored.
Bern Pedit, '72, along w it h
several supporters, picketed the
front of the building through-
out the afternoon in an attempt
to bring pressure on the Board
for Student Publications to act
on his demands.
The board owns the Student
Publications Building and con-
trols the financial operation of
the University's student publi-
cations: The Daily, the Michi-
ganensian yearbook, Gargoyle
humor magazine, Generation li-
terary magazine and the Stu-
dent Directory.
In a leaflet distributed on
campus Tuesday, Pedit claimed
he was fired Mar. 16 from his
position as a pressman's helper
because of his attempts to join
the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal
Employes (AFSCME), which re-
presents University service and
maintenance employes.
Pedit's job is one of two stu-
dent positions in the print shop,
where most of the work centers
around publishing The Daily.
The professional printers, press-
man and linotypists in the shop
are AFSCME members.
In his leaflet, Pedit said, "I
was rehired after apologizing
for my 'poor attitude," but I
continued to - work with
AFSCME" in an attempt to
realize a list of demands.
t The demands specified in
Pedit's leaflet include:
- Unionization of the posi-
tion of pressman's helper with
full union rights;
- A definition of the duties
of a pressman's helper, with
pay commensurate for t h o s e
duties;
-Four days back-pay for
time lost between the firing and
rehiring;
- Pay retroactive to Jan. 3,
the date from which AFSCME
workers were paid new wages
in accordance witth a Feb. 8

contract settlement with t h e
University; and
- Safety equipment provis-
ions and general improvement
of working conditions.
A special conference airing
some of the grievances, attend-
ed by Pedit and representatives
of AFSCME, the University and
the Board for Student Publica-
tions, was held May 10, and no
action on the case has been
taken since then.
Both law Prof. L. Hart Wright,
chairman of the Publications
board, and Archard G a m m,
superintendent of printing at
the publications building a n d
the man who fired Pedit, declin-
ed to comment on the Pedit
matter yesterday.
"The whole case is the subject
matter of a grievance proceed-
ing which has not yet reached
its conclusion," Wright said.

"Therefore it would be unbe-
coming for me to try the case
in the newspapers, rather than
through the grievance proced-
ure."
"However I may feel about it,
as a representative of an em-
ployer (the board) I must be
very careful not to violate the
law governing unfair labor
practices," Wright continued.
"Once a union is involved, an
employer is hemmed in. by law,
as to what he can say and do,
unless he is willing to be
charged with an unfair labor
practice."
Gamm declined to comment
on the same grounds.
Pedit says his problems with
the shop did not begin or end
when he was fired last month.
Pedit started working as a
pressman's helper in March,
See EMPLOYE, Page 6

'FREE JOHN'
Rai*nbow party launches drive
By CHRIS PARKS sentence for possession of marijuana rather
"We are dedicating the next two weeks of than the present 20 year maximum.
our lives to John Sinclair," reads a state- The party charges that because Sinclair
ment describing the Rainbow People's Party has served nearly eight times the governor's
campaign to gain the release of their party 90 day recommendation, his release would
chairman, Sinclair. be consistent with stated policy.
To gain public support for commutation,
Sinlai isseringa 9/i o 1 yer 5n a massive publicity campaign is planned.
tence for possession of marijuana. The party Polare bi ury to i ay.
People are being urged to write to Gov. rf
charges that his sentence was politically Milliken on pre-addressed poet cards pre-
motivated, pared by the party.
Local activities of the campaign began Also planned are a fulla-page advertise-
last week in the form of fund raising bene- ment in the Detroit Free Press, a half-hour
fits for The Free John Sinclair Committee, simul-cast on radio stations WABX, WDET
which includes such prominent persons as and DRIP, and the distribution of buttons
poet Allen Ginsburg, actress Jane Fonda, and bumper stickers.
Rep. Jackie Vaughn (D-Mich) and former In addition, Sinclair's release on bond -
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Zolton pending appeal is being sought in the state
Ferency. Supreme Court.
The campaign aims to pressure Gov. Mil- Although an earlier application for appeal
liken to commute Sinclair's sentence, ac- bond was denied by the court, the party
cording to its organizers. feels they now have a solid basis for such
The request for Sinclair's commutation an appeal.
They charge the ten year sentence is un-
stems from a speech by Goy. Milliken constitutional "cruel and unusual punish-
wherein he called for a maximum 90 day See RAINBOW, Page 3 John Sinclair

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