The United Auto Workers union has worried many UCLA faculty and
students with its announcement that University of California
teaching assistants are going on strike this week. However, the
strike will not begin today. Union members will be notified 24
hours prior to any strike action, according to an e-mail sent out
by union leadership.
Students are concerned about the strike’s potentially
negative effects on their preparation for term papers and upcoming
final exams. Professors are apprehensive about continuing classes
without severely altering class structure.
Teaching assistants base strike participation on alleged unfair
labor practices of the university system. The UC has responded by
saying the allegations are misleading, especially since it is
currently addressing UAW concerns.
Executive Vice Chancellor Daniel Neuman has expressed his desire
that classes be disrupted as little as possible. Since finals will
continue as scheduled, he encouraged professors to make necessary
adjustments to prepare students for them.
One professor, Carlo Montemagno of the bioengineering
department, plans to do just as Neuman encouraged.
“We will make adjustments to keep up the high quality of
education at UCLA,” he said.
Keith Stolzenbach, who co-teaches the general education cluster
Global Environment: A Multicultural Perspective, also intends to
keep everything as normal as possible.
If any of his course’s teaching assistants go on strike,
Stolzenbach said he means to continue lectures as usual. He plans
to arrange for alternate individuals to complete teaching assistant
duties as well.
“We would certainly adjust,” he said. “We
would potentially combine two discussion sections into one, or have
a professor lead a discussion to deal with the absence of our TAs,
but regardless, discussions would continue.”
Past solutions addressing the absence of teaching assistants
included extending deadlines. Such solutions would be difficult to
implement during this strike because of its proximity to final
exams.
Many students are upset that the upcoming strike is scheduled so
closely to the end of the quarter.
“It’s unfair to subject students to losing their TAs
so close to finals,” said first-year electrical engineering
student Annie Kang.
“It seems selfish to me that (teaching assistants) chose
to when they did,” she added.
Stolzenbach believes teaching assistants are not acting
selfishly and that they are exercising their right to strike in a
responsible manner.
“Most teaching assistants are considerate of student
needs. Most attempt to minimize effects on students by grading
papers and such before the strike,” he said.
According to union e-mails, TAs were advised to submit course
and grading materials to their departments before the beginning of
the strike.
In addition, the union is discouraging “partial
striking,” which entails TAs performing any scope of their
duties. Doing so would render a TA ineligible for strike benefits,
including pay equal to half of one’s weekly earnings, which
would be available if the strike reaches an eighth day. However,
TAs have been permitted to perform schoolwork, just not their
teaching responsibilities.
Some teaching assistants have followed this advice, choosing not
to make student accommodations on the eve of the strike. One
teaching assistant for the general education cluster History of
Social Thought informed his students he plans to observe the
entirety of the strike. He did not offer to grade papers beforehand
or to be available during finals week.