Friday, November 1, 1996
UNION:
University officials have failed to recognize grad student union
by the Oct. 28 deadline By Scott P. Stimson
Daily Bruin Contributor
When some students think of strikes, they might recall the trash
not being collected for a few weeks, times when the buses ran late
or television news stories showing striking truck drivers booing
scab workers. This quarter however, may give students a more
intimate introduction to labor disputes.
Before winter break arrives, a strike may take hold of the
Westwood campus  and undergraduates may end up caught between
two unyielding sides.
The contenders in this bout are the Student Association of
Graduate Employees (SAGE-UAW), who are demanding to be recognized
by the university, and, on the other side, university
administrators.
It is SAGE that represents UCLA’s 4,000 teaching assistants,
readers, and tutors  and it is SAGE that voted this week to
go on strike for five days this quarter unless they gain collective
bargaining recognition from the university.
Part of the decision behind the SAGE vote to strike was based on
an administrative court ruling which stated that graduate student
employees have a right to collective bargaining.
"The following student employee unit (SAGE) is found to be
appropriate for meeting and negotiating with the Regents of the
University of California Los Angeles," Judge James W. Tamm of the
Public Employment Relations Board wrote in his decision.
SAGE organizers gave the university an Oct. 28 deadline to
either recognize their collective bargaining rights or face a
possible strike.
Union officials said that the university’s refusal to grant
collective bargaining has actually increased the probability of
strikes.
"The university’s denial of bargaining rights to student
employees has, over the last decade, almost guaranteed the presence
of strikes," Tamm said.
The university, on the other hand, has appealed the ruling and
maintains that if graduate students have "collective bargaining,"
those rights could interfere with the student-mentor
relationship.
Administrators point out that their refusal to recognize SAGE is
not because they don’t relate to the graduate students.
"There are not a bunch of MBAs making decisions here," said
Robin Fisher, associate dean of graduate students. "There are folks
that were graduate students and professors in here."
Those involved in SAGE say that they want collective bargaining
so they can increase the chances of lowering the student-teaching
assistant ratio and improve the quality of their work and working
conditions.
"A lot of the most important lower division classes are taught
by T.A.s," said Mike Miller, SAGE organizer and graduate student.
"Typically, in composition courses, teaching assistants (T.A.s)
spend way more than 20 hours a week. In Composition 4 and 5, the
T.A.s are actually like the professor. They make the syllabus, they
teach, and they grade."
The possibility of disruptions caused by the pending strike has
some undergraduate students worried about the affects that missing
discussions and not having tutors for a week will have on their
learning and grades.
"Some students need that one-on-one help, and I think the strike
might hurt some students," said Thang To, a third-year business
economics student. "However, I don’t think one week will kill
anyone."
While some undergraduates may view the seriousness of the
possible strike differently, the graduate students who may go ahead
with the planned work stoppage say that they dislike having to
strike.
"It is really regrettable that this (strike) is happening and
I’m really sorry that (undergraduates are) being put in the
middle," said Miller.
But, the university has warned those considering to strike that
there will be consequences if they go on strike.
"The university expects all of its instructional personnel to
meet the obligations that they accepted with their contracts," said
Fisher.
"The regents standing order of 1966 says instructional personnel
cannot strike, and that they are likely to" face the possibility of
losing their jobs if they do not honor their contract, he
added.
While the university is warning that they may "sanction" the
graduate student employees who strike, they point out they have no
recourse against strikers,unlike plant managers of a car factory
who can shut down operations
"The university has no weapon to balance a strike such as a
lockout," said Fisher.