Case of Mistaken Identity Insults Students at USC

LOS ANGELES-A group of students and non-University of Southern California(USC) professor were mistaken for Local 11 members as they gathered in Hahn Plaza Tuesday afternoon, sparking fury and complaints to the Department of Public Safety.

Rodrigo Baca, a junior majoring in economics, and Dennis Sanchez, a professor at East Los Angeles College, said they were talking with four other USC students Tuesday afternoon at Tommy Trojan when three DPS officers approached them and asked if they were members of the Local 11 Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union.

"They came and said, ' Union 11 isn't allowed here, you need 24 hours notice,'" Baca said. "I was just shocked. I thought, What's going on? We're here just to meet with students. '" Baca and the four other students in the all-Hispanic group were planning to talk with students of Sanchez from East Los Angeles College about transferring to USC.

DPS Deputy Chief Bob Taylor said the officers were responding to a call that there were Local 11 members assembling in the middle of campus. The officers had approached the group to inform them that if they were Local 11 members, there was an injunction against their gathering in Hahn Plaza.

Taylor said that when the officers approached the group and asked if they were from Local 11, they got no response, so they informed the group of the injunction. Baca, who transferred to USC from East Los Angeles College last spring, said he was insulted at the implication.

"Automatically they assumed that restaurant workers are Hispanics. They assumed just because we're Hispanic we're going to be members of Local 11," Baca said.