Few Natural Science Classes Affected By Teaching Assistant Strike In Calif.

A MATTER OF PERCEPTION: While T.A. union officials at UC-Berkeley say that 30 percent of T.A.-classes in the natural sciences were shut down, an associate dean calls the union's figures, "wildly exaggerated." Teaching assistants (T.A.'s) boycotted their classes and set up picket lines at three campuses of the University of California (UC) for a week in November in an unsuccessful bid to pressure the administration to engage in collective bargaining with their unions. While estimates of the strike's impact varied widely, both union and university spokespersons noted that fewer T.A.'s in the natural sciences went on strike than did T.A.'s in the humanities and social sciences. However, if legal proceedings ultimately force the university to recognize a T.A. union, dealings with all UC teaching assistants would be affected. The strike, dubbed "Rolling Thunder" by its organizers, began at UCLA on Monday, November 18. As planned, it spread to UC-San Diego on Tuesday, November 19, and to UC-Berkeley on Wednesday, November 20. All T.A.'s returned to work the following Monday, November 25. The strike occurred in the context of a nationwide surge in union activism among graduate student employees. Union recognition was the central issue in the California strike. Graduate student employees at all three campuses have organized unions, which are affiliated with the United Auto Workers (UAW). The unions wish to negotiate with the administration over issues related to pay equity, benefits, workload, and grievance procedures. While many T.A.-taught classes at UCLA were canceled, postponed, or held in coffee shops off campus, few science classes appeared to be affected. Sherrie L. Morrison, chairwoman of the department of microbiology and molecular genetics, observes, "I've seen very little to no impact on science instruction." But there clearly was some impact. For example, all nine T.A.'s for Bio 166, "Animal Physiology," went on strike at UCLA, forcing the cancellation of the sensory physiology lab for 183 upper-level undergraduates. Ken Nagy, a professor of biology and the class's instructor, seemed to accept the strike with equanimity, saying, "I did not try to influence the teaching assistants in their decision." He notes, however, that while all of his T.A.'s declined to teach their lab sections that week, several showed up at the assigned time to collect papers or to administer make-up exams. Chris Attarian, a third-year graduate student in anthropology and one of Nagy's T.A.'s, participated in the strike but exhibited a degree of ambivalence. "I wish we didn't have to do it, I really do," he remarks. "I would be willing to settle for some other kind of concession by the administration, even if it was short of a union." There are several reasons why few science students participated in the strike, according to John Medearis, a member of the executive board of UCLA's Student Association of Graduate Employees (SAGE/UAW). "I think historically that there has been somewhat lower participation [in union activities] in the sciences," he observes. "And certainly this time it's going to be simply because of who we called out on strike. More people in the sciences make a living working as research assistants than as teaching assistants," and research assistants were not asked to participate. "I think it's because we treat our T.A.'s fairly and they're basically not dissatisfied," argues Morrison, who also notes that most UCLA graduate students in biology are asked to teach for only two academic quarters in their entire graduate careers. At UC-Berkeley, Joshua B. Paul, a fifth-year graduate student in chemistry, also believes that "we generally have it pretty good in the sciences." He elaborates: "We get most things paid for. We get a good stipend that's enough to live on, and we don't have to teach nearly as many semesters [as graduate students in the humanities and social sciences] to get by." However, there's no guarantee that the status quo will continue, notes UCLA student Attarian. "I think it's important that science T.A.'s realize that although they have it pretty well now, relatively speaking, the condition of T.A.'s on the campus as a whole is under threat," he says. "Every year your benefits get cut back a little bit. The strike is important for everyone because if things like our cost-of-living adjustments, our health benefits, keep getting reduced, everyone will suffer, including the T.A.'s in the sciences." Some faculty members strongly supported the strikers. "I believe that members of SAGE, just like any other workers, have the right to represent themselves and engage in collective bargaining," maintains Jerome R. Hoffman, a UCLA professor of medicine, referring to the grad student union. "I'm convinced that these student employees are perfectly capable of bargaining in good faith with an outcome that is satisfying to all. I'm also convinced that the members of SAGE with whom I've spoken are not interested in disrupting any of the academic endeavors of the university, but are merely looking to have fair representation." However, Morrison and other faculty members disagree. "My personal opinion is that I do not think it's appropriate to have our T.A.'s [be] members of unions because I do not believe that they're employees-I believe that it's part of their learning experience," she asserts. Referring to recognizing the union, she says, "I just don't see it having any positive consequences." Although unions at all three campuses struck in concert, their legal statuses vary. Only the union at Berkeley, the Association of Graduate Student Employees (AGSE/UAW), has been recognized as a collective-bargaining unit by the administration. That recognition was a result of a long series of court decisions that culminated in a 1992 ruling by the California Court of Appeals. It directed the Berkeley administration to recognize the collective bargaining rights of graduate students in only three job classifications: "readers," "tutors," and "acting instructors." Teaching and research assistants were specifically excluded. The administrations of the other UC campuses narrowly interpreted the decision mandating limited union recognition, maintaining that it applied only to Berkeley. "The university believes that those court decisions conclusively rule that teaching and research assistants are not eligible for collective bargaining in California," asserts Michael P. Melman, director of employee and labor relations at UC-San Diego. "The university has a long-held position that unionization of student-academic appointees is not consistent with the university's educational mission, and the university believes that such unionization would interfere with the student-faculty relationship, which is central to the educational process." However, a September 1996 decision by administrative law judge James W. Tamm of California's Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) held that T.A.'s at UCLA are entitled to collective bargaining. On November 4, UCLA submitted an appeal of Judge Tamm's ruling to the full PERB board. Depending on the board's decision, due after 60 to 90 days, further appeals may be possible. A LEGAL ISSUE: UCLA associate dean Robin Fisher says the administration is "compelled to go ahead and litigate the matter." "We have to obey whatever the law might be," explains Robin Fisher, associate dean of UCLA's graduate division. "We decided to go ahead and follow the legal process to find out what in fact the law is right now. If things have changed, which sometimes happens in legal matters, we'll follow whatever the new version of the law might be. But with that precedent [the 1992 ruling] out there, and with our commitment to following the appropriate legal steps in our operations, we felt we are compelled to go ahead and litigate the matter." THE SCENE AT BERKELEY: The strike began at UCLA on November 18 and spread to UC-Berkeley on November 20. Berkeley's union, the Association of Graduate Student Employees, affiliated with the United Auto Workers, picketed the campus, as did its counterparts here. But Medearis of UCLA's SAGE charges that members of the administration "consistently mischaracterize the nature of the legal process. There was a decision back in September 1996 that was in every way a complete decision. The process did not need to go on. The only reason it did go on is because the university appealed. . . . They've protracted the process. Employers know that if they can [stall] then their workers are going to get discouraged, disgusted, and they hope they'll give up. We don't want to play that game. It's an abuse of the law. It's an abuse of democratic procedures. Universities should be held to a higher standard." Joel Beeson, an organizer for UC-San Diego's Association of Student Employees (ASE/UAW), agrees. He disparages administration assertions that the legal course must be followed to its conclusion, "as if it's some sort of natural process for them to appeal every decision. In fact, they could voluntarily recognize us at any point. They choose not to. So for them to say that this is a process with a life of its own is misleading." Union representatives at all three campuses express satisfaction with strike participation. At UCLA, "our sense is that about 1,100 [of approximately 2,000] T.A.'s, readers, and tutors were out on strike," maintains Medearis. "We're estimating that more than half the T.A.'s walked out," states Beeson at UC-San Diego. "We did some surveys, and we found that 30 percent of T.A.-taught classes in the natural sciences were shut down, and 75 percent of T.A.-taught classes in the humanities and social sciences were shut down," says Jim Freeman, a member of AGSE's executive board at UC-Berkeley. "I think those figures are wildly exaggerated," counters Joseph Duggan, associate dean of the graduate division at UC-Berkeley. "AGSE was maintaining the same type of figure in their 1992 strike. They claimed that 70 percent of the classes had been canceled, and it turned out to be 3 percent," according to the administration's estimate. Likewise, Fisher at UCLA and Melman at UC-San Diego agree that the impact of the strike on their campuses was minimal. Duggan suggests that one explanation for the discrepancy between union and administration estimates of the strike's impact may lie in how the two camps interpret the same event. The administrations count as canceled only those classes that were never held, while the unions also count classes that were merely postponed or held off-campus. Despite the strike, Fisher notes that UCLA retained its normal bustle of activity. But Medearis points out that T.A.'s picketed each of the campus's seven entrances throughout the week. There also was a noisy midweek rally on the steps of Murphy Hall, the administration building. The rally was attended by about 120 sign-waving protesters, who chanted slogans such as, "UC system rollin' in the dough/Union busting's got to go," and "Better education, that's why we fight/A union contract, that's why we strike." Although the November strike is over, the effort among University of California T.A.'s to gain union recognition will certainly continue, adding to a nationwide wave of union activism that has included a two-day walkout at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a grade strike at Yale within the past year (R. Finn, The Scientist, April 29, 1996, page 1). "We have to communicate to the administration that this movement is growing in strength, and that the actions we intend to take are getting more important and more serious," noted Medearis during the recent strike. "When the strike is over they will know that the next strike will be bigger, have more campuses involved, and will be more disruptive to education and research." In fact, union members at all three campuses voted to escalate pressure before the end of the academic year in June if their demands for recognition are not met. While the details of this escalation have yet to be determined, Beeson says the unions are considering several options, including a longer strike or a grade strike, in which T.A.'s would refuse to turn in their students' final grades. "We're in this for the long haul," concludes Freeman. "I think we showed over this week that we're serious in our demands for collective bargaining. And we hope the administration will be reasonable and will value education and will not force us to go out for longer in the future." Robert Finn, a freelance science writer based in Long Beach, Calif., is online at finn@nasw.org.

Few Natural Science Classes Affected By Teaching Assistant Strike In Calif.

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of