Silent Majority

Fellow Students and Davis Community Members,

On May 1^st, 2007 several hundred students marched down 5^th Street and then proceeded to block the La Rue Intersection. Two dozen individuals dissatisfied with Sodexho employment blocked the Intersection causing traffic jams and inconvenience to many citizens. These individuals deliberately and knowingly broke the law by sitting in a tight circle in the center of the intersection.

By blocking the La Rue intersection Unitrans buses could not move forward causing many students to be late to class. Some of these students had important midterms and classes they could not afford to miss. Other Davis community members were inconvenienced by the organizers; they could not get to where they wanted to go or conduct their necessary trips for the day. The blocking of the intersection was entirely illegal and as a result the organizers were arrested one by one and bussed off to be booked.

What is even more troubling is that the organizers did not warn the community in advance as to what they were going to do. As a result many Davis community members and students were literally stranded.

First we must realize that the march would have been considered a success without the blocking of the intersection. Objectively the organizers of the march had much to celebrate considering the amount of people who marched.

Second the blocking of the intersection was entirely a Sodexho employee affair. The anti-war movement, the immigrant rights organizations, and the worker’s right organizations did not participate in the illegal activity that took place that day. The Sodexho employees acted alone for the purpose of publicity.

The Sodexho workers in the weeks afterwards disrupted a Brown Bag Lunch talk hosted by the Chancellor. They selflessly kept the Chancellor from addressing the interested parties at the event. If you walk around the campus you will find spray painted graffiti supporting the Sodexho workers on university property. This is lawlessness.

On May 23^rd, 2007 Sodexho workers surrounded Mrak Hall preventing employees and students from freely going in and out of the building. Protesters banged on the windows in an intimidating fashion and made it impossible for students to receive services from Mrak Hall. I, myself had desired to conduct business at Mrak Hall but was prevented by the mob that was there. As before some of the protestors were arrested for violating the law. Organizers wrote in the California Aggie that their protests would escalate as the university refuse to give in to their demands.

As a result of the Sodexho employee’s criminal activity many students and Davis community members have distance themselves from them. The Sodexho employees have resorted to blackmail and extortion to get what they want. They can’t prove their case on economic grounds and as such they hope to embarrass the university into submission with bad press and criminal intimidation. It is perfectly reasonable to feel sympathy towards Sodexho workers. It is righteous to want to help our fellow students achieve greater success in the work place. But by making Sodexho workers employees of UC Davis it will increase student fees and will make strikes more frequent on the campus. There is firm evidence that not all Sodexho workers desire to be UC Davis employees in the first place.

Those demonstrators who break the law and cause chaos on the campus are not the majority of students on the UC Davis campus. They will not be the leaders of the future. The Silent Majority of students need to stand up and be counted.