20 cited for occupying UC regent’s office

Twenty union demonstrators were arrested and cited for trespassing Friday morning in San Francisco after occupying the office of University of California Regents’ Chairman Richard Blum, police said.

Protesters said they took the action because the UC system has refused to offer 8,500 service workers decent pay raises in long-stalled contract talks.

San Francisco Police spokeswoman Sgt. Lyn Tomioka said no damage was reported in what she described as a noisy but peaceful demonstration at the financial district building. She declined to estimate the size of the crowd, citing department policy.

Rally participants said that about 60 people showed up at Blum’s investment firm and that 20 of them got inside his fourth-floor office suite for about an hour.

Among those arrested was Kathryn Lybarger, a gardener at UC Berkeley, who said the union decided to focus on Blum because he is crucial to a better contract for the service workers, who include custodians, cafeteria employees and grounds workers. “He needs to be held accountable,” said Lybarger, who also is on the negotiating team for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299.

Blum was out of town Friday, according to a UC spokesperson. Calls to his office seeking comment were not returned.

UC system President Mark G. Yudof criticized the demonstration as “an act of trespass which was inappropriate, disrespectful, and a violation of Regent Blum’s privacy.” In a statement, Yudof said the action also was “potentially damaging” to contract negotiations.

UC officials have said that the state’s budget deficit limits the pay raises they can offer.

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larry.gordon@latimes.com