Monday, April 27, 1998
Survey question on GSA ballot upsets SAGE
GSA: Petition may put poll before voters despite Forum vote for
removal
By Ann Hawkey
Daily Bruin Contributor
Thursday night, the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) held an
emergency session of the GSA Forum, during which they decided to
remove survey questions regarding labor issues from the spring
ballot.
The questions, which mentioned the Student Association of
Graduate Employees/United Auto Workers (SAGE/UAW), brought many
complaints from the labor group, which demanded that the question
be removed from the ballot and threatened legal action.
The forum had voted on April 15 to place the survey questions on
the spring ballot. Thirteen members were present. One week later
Michael Miller, a representative of the executive board of SAGE,
presented a petition calling for an emergency session of the Forum
to remove the survey from the ballot.
SAGE objected to the survey because they felt that it could
possibly jeopardize their organizing drive.
"Any polling actually runs the risk of confusing the employees
and prejudicing them," said Miller.
GSA, by putting the survey on the ballot, would be interfering
with the process outlined by the Public Employee Relations Board,
claimed SAGE representatives.
"Any third party … is legally prohibited from taking a poll
during the time they call the ‘laboratory’ period, which is the
time from when the first card is signed, ending with
certification," said Miller.
Miller referred to the time when cards were first signed by
graduate employees, stating their intent to unionize, and the time
until SAGE is recognized by UCLA.
Despite these threats, GSA President Andrew Westall was
confident that GSA’s earlier decision to conduct the poll would
stand.
"I believe GSA has the legal right to do this," Westall
said.
After hours of discussion from GSA representatives and SAGE
members, the forum voted 13-6 in favor of removing the survey from
the ballot.
Though the forum’s decision stands, the survey may still be
included. According to Lance Menthe, GSA internal vice president,
four delegates approached him after the meeting and asked how they
could get the survey back on the ballot.
Menthe told them that a petition, signed by 200 graduate
students, would be sufficient to get the survey on the ballot.
"This is not a process where the Forum could remove (the survey)
from the ballot," he said.
Miller charged that GSA’s attempts to get the survey on the
ballot were in fact being orchestrated by university administrators
who were opposed to SAGE.
"The university is going on attack, and they’re using GSA to do
it," he said.
Menthe dismissed those charges as ludicrous.
"(SAGE) is doing everything they can to fight this – now
insinuating that we’re pawns to the administration is their next
tactic," he said.
"I assure you that neither I, nor (Westall), nor anyone at the
meeting has spoken with the administration," he continued.
Survey questions regarding labor have previously been on the
ballot, most recently in 1993, and GSA saw no problem with polling
their members as they had done in the past.
"Since it’s been five years since the last survey, since we have
a new crop of graduate students, we want to know how they feel,"
said Menthe.
"We are not actually trying to preempt the union vote. We are
trying to find out how our members feel about this," he
continued.
The issue was compounded when GSA’s relationship with the
university was discussed at the meeting. Because the university is
considered the employer of graduate student employees, GSA’s
attempt to be impartial in labor debates was questioned.
"Legally, GSA is an arm of the university. There is no
autonomy," said Michael Lichter, member of the Social Sciences
Council.
The questions about conflict of interest even caught the
attention of Menthe, who has had a reputation for being
unsupportive of SAGE. Menthe challenged these allegations.
"I am not opposed to SAGE, but I won’t go on strike for them,"
he said. "I’m very tired of the attitude that you’re either for or
against it."
The main debate of the night, however, involved weighing the
benefits of the survey with the possible damage to SAGE/UAW and the
work of students on the labor situation at the university.
"For me, the No. 1 issue is what are the repercussions of the
survey item," said Lichter.
"If GSA, just by putting this item on the ballot, undermines the
work of the graduate students with SAGE, I think that disrespects
the graduate students," he said.