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.