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Union’s behavior not in keeping with proper conduct

By Daily Bruin Staff

May 8, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday, May 8, 1996

Union’s behavior not in keeping with proper conductBy Robin
Fisher

here there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth
the law, happy is he."

­ Proverbs 29:18

The Student Association of Graduate Employees/United Auto
Workers has mounted a major effort during the last few years to
obtain union recognition by UCLA for the purposes of collective
bargaining. Its program intensified recently with disturbing
personal attacks, political maneuvers and what appears to be a
deliberate campaign of public deception.

The game is truth or dare. It has all of the ingredients for a
media holiday. The Student Association of Graduate Employees/United
Auto Workers (SAGE/UAW) always dares because it has a theoretical,
not a practical, commitment to people. UCLA always responds with
truth because it has theoretical and practical commitments to real
people engaged in graduate education right now. UCLA must also dare
to evolve to keep graduate education alive and well. So let’s play
the game ­ truth or dare.

Truth ­ UCLA has repeatedly addressed with facts, not
fantasies, the distraction issues touted by the association:
democratic process, conditions of appointment/compensation and
grievance/harassment procedures. UCLA has a well-deserved
reputation as one of the most progressive, perceptive and
benevolent universities in the United States in these matters. Dare
­ can the graduate student employees devise practical
proposals for beneficial change in place of unstructured and
unaccountable demands for resources?

Truth ­ UCLA has only one issue with SAGE/UAW, and that is
union recognition for the purpose of collective bargaining. UCLA
declines voluntary recognition because facts, not fantasies,
indicate that recognition would be inappropriate, not beneficial
and potentially harmful to all of the constituents of the
University. Dare ­ can the association mature to become a
symbiotic partner faithful to all of its constituents, instead of a
mere adversary?

Truth ­ personalities and politics are irrelevant. Facts,
not fantasies, must decide the issue. Disagreement with the
SAGE/UAW position does not mean that one is a scab, an unwitting
tool of a capitalist conspiracy or the devil incarnate. The proper
exercise of responsibility and authority by institutional officials
does not mean that they are unthinking apologists, professional
outcasts or even administrative parasites. Dare ­ can SAGE/UAW
engage in civil human relations and debate unfettered by
polemic?

Truth also has a legal aspect. UCLA is a first-rate public
research institution, held in trust for the benefit of the people
of the state of California and with particular responsibilities to
accomplish graduate and professional education. It is both
necessary and appropriate for UCLA, after due deliberation, to
comply completely with the federal, state and local laws that
affect its operations.

In 1987, the legislative assembly of the state of California
passed the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act which
deals with the issue of eligibility of academic apprentice
appointees to unionize for the purposes of collective
bargaining.

UCLA, and the University of California as a whole, declines to
voluntarily recognize SAGE/UAW because the legal precedents
generated by the act state that students are ineligible for
collective bargaining if employee status is subordinate to student
status.

The graduate teaching assistants, researchers, readers and
tutors at UCLA are first and foremost students, not employees. They
are admitted, enrolled and registered in graduate degree programs
to earn a graduate degree, contribute to their discipline and
advance into the next stage of their professional careers. They are
not hired to come to UCLA as employees nor are they provided
academic apprentice appointments as an entitlement. Rather, these
merit-based appointments serve, in combination with fellowships and
financial aid, as support for the academic advancement of the
student.

The legal precedents generated by the Higher Education
Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEEERA) also state that students
are ineligible for unionization if collective bargaining would not
advance the purposes of HEEERA. These purposes include the orderly
conduct of university missions and the promotion of academic
excellence.

It is reasonable to be concerned that collective bargaining
would interfere with the critical, and sometimes contentious,
mentoring relationships between the faculty and graduate students.
It is reasonable to be concerned that collective bargaining would
divide teaching and research academic apprentices because their
interests are often fundamentally different. It is reasonable to be
concerned that collective bargaining would divide and make
competitive the interests of academic apprentice appointees,
undergraduate students and recognized union staff employees.

The divisive and often destructive approach taken by the Student
Association of Graduate Employees in its search for recognition
justifies these concerns and erects a second block against
voluntary recognition.

Under current law, graduate students are not career employees
nor is their employment the primary reason for their affiliation
with UCLA. UCLA and SAGE/UAW are presently engaged in litigation to
review the eligibility of academic apprentice appointees for
unionization for the purposes of collective bargaining. UCLA
believes firmly that these issues are best decided through an
orderly legal process in the public courts instead of in the arenas
of public opinion and political debate.

UCLA’s position in this matter is neither reactionary nor
anti-labor. When the employment conditions detailed in HEEERA are
met, UCLA has a long, productive and credible record of union
recognition and good-faith collective bargaining.

Organized labor does, in fact, have a home and an important role
for career employees at UCLA. Similarly, class struggle is not the
issue. Unionization and collective bargaining are reasonable and
sometimes necessary when career workers are employed by industrial,
agricultural or bureaucratic organizations. The United Auto Workers
is an admirable union with certain real accomplishments in these
settings. Its potential for comparable accomplishments in
universities is largely unknown.

Truth finally rests on real people, process and organizations.
For example, all of the administrators authorized to decide issues
concerning academic personnel are serving professors and members of
the faculty at UCLA. The policies and procedures that cover these
matters are determined democratically through shared governance
with the Academic Senate of the faculty at UCLA.

Elected representatives of the student governments participate
and vote democratically in the Academic Senate standing committees
that devise and review all of the student-related policies. There
is reason to believe that the opinions expressed in this article
are shared by the academic administration, the vast majority of the
faculty and many of the graduate students whom SAGE/ UAW purports
to represent.

UCLA has a long-standing commitment to the education, welfare
and career success of graduate and professional students. UCLA also
has a commitment to innovation, flexibility, advocacy and
credibility in all matters related to graduate student support.
These policies and actions are pursued for several important
reasons.

UCLA’s graduate students are selected for strong potential and
great merit. Their education is subsidized and supported by the
state of California for the good of society. Their work at UCLA
adds greatly to the vitality of the university and the
accomplishment of the full range of its educational missions. The
educational experiences of graduate students are devised
exclusively for their professional advancement.

At UCLA, graduate apprentice compensation and benefits remain
the most protected part of academic personnel costs. This policy is
designed to meet governmental regulations while it maximizes the
availability of graduate student support. The aim is to enhance the
access of talent, regardless of its social origins or financial
resources, to graduate education.

Finally, formal and informal grievance procedures are readily
available to all graduate students to assure the propriety of their
work and the equity of their support. Even the appearance of
exploitation and harassment are abhorrent on both ethical and legal
grounds. Junior colleagues, including members of SAGE/UAW, are
dealt with in a civil, professional and just manner based on due
process as a first principle of institutional integrity.

Truth or dare, it would be interesting to receive the same
consideration and courtesy from SAGE/UAW, an organization avowedly
devoted to the cause of human dignity and welfare.

Fisher is associate dean of the Graduate Division and professor
of psychiatry and neurobiology.

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