SAGE threatens to strike for union recognition

Thursday, November 5, 1998

SAGE threatens to strike for union recognition

WORKERS: TAs push for collective bargaining rights;

fall quarter freeze could cripple undergrad courses

By Barbara Ortutay

Daily Bruin Staff

Teaching assistants (TAs), readers, tutors and research
assistants may soon begin a long-term strike to pressure UCLA’s
administration into granting collective bargaining rights to their
union.

Although there is no set date, the strike will probably happen
sometime this quarter, according to Meredith Neuman, Graduate
Students Association (GSA) internal vice president and SAGE
member.

The Student Association of Graduate Employees, which is
affiliated with the United Auto Workers,(SAGE/UAW) is pushing to
gain union recognition. For the past five years their efforts have
not paid off.

Currently, TAs are not recognized as legal employees of the
university, although in 1996 a San Diego judge from the Public
Employees Relations Board ruled that teaching assistants, tutors
and readers have collective bargaining rights. But this ruling did
not result in university recognition, and it only involved the
union at UCSD.

Currently, SAGE is negotiating with the university regarding
union recognition.

"We are waiting for the chancellor to respond, but so far he has
been blowing us off," said Carolina Wieland, head TA for political
science.

The administration has long contended that academic student
employees are "students first and employees second," so they do not
have collective bargaining rights, according to Robin Fisher,
associate dean of the graduate division.

SAGE members, however, argue that the two are separate.

"We certainly are students, but we are also TAs. That’s our
job," Wieland said.

Past strikes have lasted no longer than a week, and even then,
many TAs continued to hold sections and grade papers off
campus.

But last month UAW, an internationally recognized union,
announced that it will lend support to striking academic employees
from their $700 million strike fund.

With the support of UAW, the strike may last longer. According
to Neuman, after a certain amount of time, the strike fund will pay
the striking TAs’ wages.

According to Wieland, TAs will stop working completely. She
added that it is illegal for unions to have a partial strike, and
that TAs could be prosecuted if they continued to work off campus
during the strike.

If the strike occurs around finals week, many undergraduates
will be left without TAs to grade papers, lead discussion sections
and hold review sessions. In addition, professors for large lecture
classes may have to grade hundreds of finals by themselves,
possibly pushing back the date when grades become available.

Duncan MacRae, a political science TA, said one way to get
around potential problems is to have a multiple choice final.

Despite the drawbacks, many students say they would support the
TAs.

"Both of my parents are community college professors, and I know
how important it is for teachers to get their rights," said Brooks
Osborne, a first-year political science student.

Currently, graduate employees receive limited health coverage,
without dental or optical coverage. They also have no say in class
sizes; that number is determined by the Academic Senate.

"The strike is not something we are taking lightly," Wieland
said. "In the past five years, we have had teach-ins, protests,
short-term strikes and court cases."

The administration would rather resolve the issue in court,
Fisher said. He added that if the strike does occur, the chancellor
will deal with the situation.

"Any kind of professional situation where people don’t fulfill
their duties has the potential to harm people," Fisher said. "The
legal process is better."

"If you don’t fulfill your duties, you’re unlikely to be paid,"
he added.

In order for employees to be recognized as a union, a majority
of those employees must sign union cards. According to Neuman, SAGE
already has "card majority."

After obtaining card majority, unions are usually recognized by
the Labor Relations Board, then by their employees, Neuman
said.

The university continues to appeal the case, however, and refuse
to recognize SAGE as a union.

While GSA has no official position on the impending strike, GSA
President Joanna Brooks said graduate student academic employees
should have the right to unionize.

"Graduate students play such a huge role in undergraduate
education that they deserve to be treated with respect and
dignity," Brooks said.

The University of California Students Association, a statewide
lobbying organization that focuses on issues important to UC
students, has always counted union rights of graduate student
employees as an important item on its agenda, according to
Brooks.

But she said that she is not aware of any new efforts by UCSA to
push the issue .

With reports from Michael Weiner, Daily Bruin senior staff.

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