Union decides to take strike vote in spring
Union decides to take strike vote in spring
Student workers wait for ruling before choosing next action
By Michael Angell
Daily Bruin Contributor
The union for student academic employees met to discuss a possible University of California-wide strike last night if university chancellors continue to ignore demands for recognition.
In a closed-door meeting, the Student Association of Graduate Employees (SAGE) voted to take a strike authorization vote in spring. A strike could occur in fall if UCLA does not recognize the union as the legitimate collective bargaining unit for research assistants, teaching assistants, readers and tutors at the university.
Last spring, the union conducted a two-day strike for recognition.
But unlike earlier labor actions, this time the union would coordinate a UC-wide strike with other unions at Berkeley, Santa Cruz, San Diego and Santa Barbara.
"People indicated a strong propensity for a (local) strike," said Mike Miller, the union's lead organizer. "But we decided that it would be better to hold a vote in the spring."
The Student Association of Graduate Employees is waiting to hear what an administrative law judge decides in regard to the union's legal status.
Until that time, UCLA refuses to voluntarily recognize the union, said university spokeswoman Linda Steiner-Lee.
"Nothing has changed on the university's position on SAGE," Steiner-Lee said.
A decision in the case is expected sometime in late summer or early fall. If the decision goes in favor of the union and the university still refuses to recognize it, then the union plans on striking along with other student academic employee unions.
The Public Employee Relations Board, which is in charge of arbitrating between state workers and state agencies, has to decide whether UCLA research assistants, teaching assistants, tutors and readers can form a union.
The same judge who is deciding the UCLA case also decided a similar case at UC San Diego, in which readers and tutors were authorized form a union.
But at UCLA, Chancellor Charles Young argued a union would be disruptive to the educational relationship between student employees and the university.
The university also claimed that the needs of academic student employees, both undergraduate and graduate, have been met.
"I think the collective bargaining will have a bad effect on the roles research assistants and teaching assistants play in the educational process in the university with regard to undergraduate students and research programs and with regard to their own education," Young said.
But academic student employees said they see the union not as an educational issue but a workplace issue.
Academic employees cited wage differentials, inadequate health coverage and an increasing workload as driving forces behind the union.
Equal pay for equal work is one of Sonja Gedeon's concerns. Gedeon, an undergraduate Academic Advancement Program tutor is paid $2 less an hour than the graduate student tutor with whom she works. The university also cut eight hours from her tutoring schedule.
"These were told to us without our consultation," Gedeon said. "Academic employees need a legal voice for our conditions."
Union members also echoed the complaint of many other students at UCLA: crowded class rooms. A teaching assistant is paid for 20 hours a week, but Steve Miller reckoned that his large classes require more office hours and more time spent poring over papers.
"We end up working a lot more hours than we are originally required," Miller said.
Despite the student academic employees grievance with the university, they are reticent to neglect their students' education.
Miller said that he makes sure that all his students receive proper attention for their educational needs.
"I'm not going to neglect my students education. I make sure I'm ready for them regardless," Miller said.
"Nothing has changed on the university's position on SAGE."
Linda Steiner-Lee
University Spokeswoman
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