Daily f§ Trojan
University of Southern California
Vol. LXVI, No. 114
Los Angeles, California
Friday, April 26, 1974
County employees may strike at Medical Center
ACCUSES WHITES OF GENOCIDE—Russell Means, a leader of the American Indian Movement, accused the white race of subjecting Indians to a genocide program when he spoke Wednesday in Founders Hall. He compared Indian reservations to Nazi concentration camps. DT photo by Bob Chavez.
HITS CONTROL OF RESERVATIONS
BV ELLEN NORMAN
Staff Writer
A possible strike of county workers—including those at the County-USC Medical Center— is expected Monday at 12:01 a.m.
The workers involved are part of the Coalition of County Unions, which includes six AFL-CIO union affiliates. The coalition represents 60.000 of the county’s 79.000 employees.
All but the professional workers are expected to strike if a settlement is not reached by Monday. These include attendants, lab technicians, pharmacists, ambulance drivers. kitchen workers and x-ray technicians.
The AFL-CIO County Federation of Labor voted to support the strike Wednesday night which could possibly stop members from crossing the
Indian leader calls whites killers
BY MIKE WILLIAMS
AssistanLEditorial Director
The American Indian has been and is the object of a program of genocide directed by the white majority, said Russell Means, a leader of the American Indian Movement and the 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee. S.D.
Means spoke Wednesday evening in Founders Hall at the invitation of the Campus Speakers Committee.
He compared the government's system of Indian reservations to the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. saying the Indian has been persecuted because he represents a way of life the white majority wishes to forget.
“They call them reservations but they are concentration camps,” Means said.
“The secretary of the interior is our god. We cannot initiate programs without his permission. Any Indian can be declared incompetent without a trial and we have no recourse.
No civil rights
“There is no such thing as civil rights on a reservation.”
Means said the Indian Organization Act of 1934 was a carbon copy of the Bantu Development Act passed in the Union of South Africa in 1964.
Both acts provide for reservations and self-government within the reservations, he said, implying that the racist attitudes that characterized the Indian wars ofthe 18th and 19th centuries are still present in this country.
He also said that corruption in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, both in Washington and on the local level, was a large factor in the distortion of justice on the reservations.
“We Indian people smiled and chuckled when Watergate began to unfurl. We already knew, because we deal with the BIA every day,” said Means.
Means termed press coverage of the Wounded Knee confrontation as “guerilla theater" and a “media show.” However, he later admitted the incident was an attempt to get the attention of the federal government.
But the fact that over 130 Indians are now facing trial for their actions at Wounded Knee should be an indication that it was not just a publicity stunt. Means said.
Legal right
Means said that while the Indians' actions had precipitated the confrontation, they had had a legal right to be there and the violence that occurred was instigated by the federal marshals.
“Every time we have been on the offensive, there has been no violence. Every time we have been on the defensive, there has been violence.” said Means.
“Anytime the Indian people, with only 0.37r of the population, think they can do anything by advocating violence, they just bring us closer to genocide.”
Means said the white culture has never understood the Indian
culture, but still wants to exterminate it because of their radical differences.
“They call us primitive”
‘They (the white culture) call us primitive for not overpopulating the Western Hemisphere. They call us primitive for not having zoos, old-age homes, cities, ghettos, orphanages or corruption,” Means said.
He recalled an Indian saying, "the white man’s got no eyes and he’s got no ears.” meaning that the white man, unlike the Indian, is not sensitive to his environment.
“A stand of trees will tell you not to build cities.-When they are too close to each other they become dying trees.” said Means.
“We can see what was put around us. We built our civilization from what we could learn from the body, the river and the tree.
"We have no revolution in Indian country. We are only trying to maintain our traditions. We are trying to keep the beauty of our country.”
Columbia professor to lecture, lead seminars
Jacques Barzun, a professor at Columbia University who is called one of America’s top intellectuals, will deliver two lectures and hold three seminars on campus.
Barzun will speak Sunday at 3 p.m. in Edison Auditorium, Hoffman Hall, on "Ethics and Politics: Manners and the Moral Self.”
He will hold another free lecture Wednesday, and a series of private seminars today, Monday and Wednesday.
Barzun is said to have a massive amount of knowledge about music, art. philosophy, literature and history.
He is also critical of higher education, saying that professional schools are killing liberal-arts universities.
He says liberal arts colleges are not fulfilling their role of education, which is to look at the past and explore the unknown.
Barzun earned three degrees at Columbia University. He was formerly the dean of the faculties and provost there.
Barzun was invited to lecture at USC as a Raubenheimer fellow Raubenheimer fellowships honor Albert Sydney Raubenheimer. academic vice-president emeritus of USC, and bring outstanding authorities in all disciplines of letters, arts and sciences to USC.
picket lines at city administration buildings, courthouses, hospitals, health facilities and offices of 58 county departments.
All county workers are asking a pay increase from 8.57r to 109L But according to a union spokesman. Supervisor Kenneth Hahn has said the county will give only a 5.5CU increase.
Leda Reynolds, director of voluntary services of the center, said she thinks about 857r of the workers will strike. She added that most employees feel that they need a raise to meet the cost of living.
Reynolds also said that all patients, other than those that are seriously ill. will either be discharged or moved to private hospitals.
She said that about 500 patients cannot be moved from the center so it will be operated with only professional staff members and volunteers.
Dr. Robert Tranquada. medical director of the center, said that he feels there is sufficient room at private hospitals to house the transferred patients. He said that the hospital will close off admissions, "which should decrease the number of patients we'll have to transfer.
“Yes, we’ll have enough hospital beds at other hospitals,” Tranquada said.
“But patients must be taken care of by physicians and we just don’t have a means for paying this.”
He said that unless a patient is eligible for Medicare or MediCal. serious problems could be created.
“You just can’t expect a private hospital to pay for something it won’t be reimbursed for.” he said.
Tranquada also voiced his fears of the strike, since it is sanctioned by the labor federation.
A union spokesman said he's not quite sure the workers will strike.
“It’s pretty much premature." he said. "The management and workers just might reach an agreement.”
He cited information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and said that county workers received an 8.9^ pay increase nationally last year.
The union spokesman also said Local 434. which represents most of the hospital workers, authorized the strike Monday. He said that 95*7 of the workers approved the strike.
Volunteers for patient care and hospital maintenance are needed. But as of Thursday, no arrangements had been determined as to registration procedures for the volunteers.
Library assistants expect unionization
BY ALIX RILEY
Start' Writer
Library assistants will vote today on whether they will unionize, and the assistants are confident that the unionization will be approved.
"There’s little doubt in my own mind that we'll win. We should have a good healthy majority.” one assistant said.
"There’s a fairly strong feeling that to get the attention of the university, this is the best way to go.”
Assistants from the Doheny. Gerontology. Hancock. Law and Medical libraries are seeking raises to bring their salaries to a / level equal to that of library assistants at UCLA. They also want guaranteed regular salary increases to keep pace with the cost of living.
If unionization is approved, Local 30 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union, AFL-CIO. will represent the assistants for the purpose of collective bargaining with the university.
Local 30 was first authorized to serve as official bargaining agent for the assistants in January.
The assistants stressed that they were not interested in unionizing only for the purpose of getting more money: they feel that through the process of collective bargaining they will have more influence on the library system, and can therefore provide better library
service.
"We feel that it’s about time this university started upgrading its whole library system.” an assistant said.
“The salary structure is such that we can t hold good people. There’s a terrible turnover rate. Because of this the patrons don't get the quality of service they should.”
Roy L. Kidman, university librarian, declined to comment on unionization within 24 hours of the election, on the advice of university lawyers.
In the March 29 Daily Trojan. he was quoted as saying. “Going outside the university to bargain through a union will cost more in terms of resources. It will also cost the university money.
“When unions come in, a great deal of the time and money that could be channeled into salaries has to be used to hire more people.
"I hope employees will decide to vote against unionizing.” Gloria Busman, the Local 30 representative, said there is usually about a 90^ turnout for this type of election. More than 100 people are eligible to vote Voting will take place in the Medical and Law Libraries in the morning, and in Doheny Library from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. The results should be available shortly after 4 p.m.
An agreement authorizing the election was signed March 27 by the university and repre-
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