Joanna Brooks and Mark Quigley are graduate students and TAs in
the English Department. They are currently at work on their video
series, "When ASEs Attack!"
By Joanna Brooks and Mark Quigley
Daily Bruin Contributors
To those new to campus, academic student employees may seem like
curious creatures – odd twenty- and thirty- somethings leaning on
podiums or hunching in research labs, inexplicably excited by the
abstract, speaking in indecipherable gestures and phrases.
Wonder no longer. The Student Association of Graduate Employees
(SAGE/UAW), representing over 3,000 academic student employees, a
state-verified representative majority, is pleased to present the
following field guide to the species. Teaching assistants (TAs),
research assistants, tutors and readers play a major role in
education and research at UCLA; their working conditions are
classroom and lab learning and research conditions. For several
years, academic student employees (ASEs) have tried to bring the
UCLA administration into a dialogue about issues like fair sexual
harassment policies, health care, teacher/student ratios and work
load.
The administration has refused, insisting that ASEs do not have
the right to negotiate these things collectively. As you can
imagine, this "survival of the fittest" atmosphere has led to
evolutionary changes among the usually quiet ASE population, who
voted last spring to go on strike this fall. We hope this
information will help you keep up with the changes.
Species: Academicus Studentia Employeeatus, or "ASE."
Readily identifiable by bags under eyes, firm grip on coffee
cup, large hump on back – which, upon closer inspection, appears to
be a backpack full of books, usually seen wearing all black,
secondhand or styles dating from the late ’80s.
In order to better understand the species, let’s briefly look at
some of the typical behaviors they exhibit and what underlies such
actions.
Behavior: "Gee, I hope there are enough seats in here." TA
shakes head or grunts, apologizes to class or mumbles to self,
examines student roster with furrowed brow, glances several times
during first few minutes of class at "room capacity" sign posted by
fire marshall.
The gentler members of the species may show concern for student
welfare: "Gee, I guess we’ll be cozy this quarter. Does anyone have
a Mr. Microphone lying around at home?"
The fiercer, older variety may make threatening gestures or
sounds or act erratically in order to scare wait-listed students
away.
Translation: Under current university policy, TAs have no right
to formally negotiate their working conditions, including the ratio
of TAs to students in their classes. In many departments, section
sizes have gradually been creeping up over the past few years. For
example, section caps in large English general education lectures
increased from 25 per section to 35 per section between Fall 1995
and Spring 1996.
Behavior: When asked about returning assignments, TA or reader
appears strained, winces, "I’m sorry, your papers aren’t quite
ready yet." When returned, papers may be coffee- or tear-stained
and comments appear to be written in a script resembling
hieroglyphics, cave painting, or marks left by extraterrestrials in
English cornfields. TAs’ and readers’ hands appeared gnarled or
permanently cramped around a writing instrument.
Translation: Heavy work loads produce exhaustion, which can
diminish the quality and speed of even the most devoted TA or
reader. ASEs have been asked to grade as many as 250 exam blue
books at a time.
Behavior: When solicited for individual appointment, TA
unscrolls weekly appointment calendar. After juggling after-hour
shifts at Starbuck’s and calling spouse to confirm child care
availability, TA finds a 15 minute slot just for you: "Meet me at
7:45 a.m.?" TA suggests battling squirrels for a table at Lu Valle
Commons rather than jockeying for high demand 3-feet-by-4-feet
"office" slot.
Translation: High class sizes and heavy work loads, combined
with the demands of supplementing an income through off-campus work
and family responsibilities, diminish TA availability for student
consultation. In addition, the high cost of child care and health
care for dependents often necessitates working extra hours. Unlike
ASEs at unionized campuses such as the University of Wisconsin,
ASEs at UCLA do not have health care for dependents.
Behavior: Research assistant squints, complains of headache. Or,
TA rubs jaw regularly during section, emits pained cries when
sipping hot beverage.
Translation: Currently, UCLA’s health plan for ASEs does not
cover optical or dental care. Unionized ASEs at other college
campuses enjoy these basic benefits.
Behavior: TA pauses in the middle of section, stares out window
or looks wistfully into the distance. Can be heard mumbling, "I
should’ve taken that job with the postal service," or "At least if
I sold Mary Kay with my uncle, I’d have a car, even if it was
pink."
Translation: ASEs regularly log time beyond that for which they
are compensated. Teaching and tutoring thus provide their primary,
if not sole, source of income for several years; there is no
guarantee that a well-paying career will naturally follow their
work at UCLA or help them repay student loans. Real wages have
declined 15 percent for ASEs in the last four years. This year,
UCLA broke with the practice of matching ASE cost-of-living
adjustments with the percentage given to faculty. In addition, as
they begin the 1996-97 academic year, many ASEs are faced with fee
increases that equal almost $100 annually and are not offset by
commensurate remission increases.
Behavior: When asked about SAGE or the possibility of a strike,
TA rubs chin or grips edge of podium, takes a few deep breaths,
attempts to appear rational or wax philosophical, uses
multisyllabic words like "democratization," "accountability" or
"recognition." When asked about undergraduates crossing the picket
line, tutor says, "I think this is a great opportunity for each of
you to use your critical-thinking skills."
Translation: ASEs are a gentle but proud people. According to
the custom of their field, they will strive to speak rationally and
carefully about issues which affect them deeply. Do not be fooled
by their placid demeanor; inside, they are seething. ASEs thrive on
expressions of respect from the community they serve.
(Authors’ note: In the language of labor dispute, not crossing a
picket line signifies that one respects strikers’ right to take a
stand concerning their working conditions. Thus, refusing to cross
a picket line is a sign of one’s refusal to be made a pawn in what
should be a direct dialogue between the administration and its
ASEs.)
No picture of campus ecology would be complete, however, without
a profile of UCLA’s administrators; this species has adapted to ASE
calls for negotiation by developing strange, warlike
"fight-or-flight" response patterns. A guide to these behaviors
follows:
Species: Administratus plumpus feline, or "administrator." A
reclusive creature whose chief habitat is Murphy Hall, although
individual members of the species may be seen smiling and waving at
university events or hunching in a corner at Monty’s;
distinguishable by suit, sensible shoes, graying hair; drives
late-model sedan, possibly university-funded. War cry: "Back in the
’60s, I was just like you kids."
Behavior: When asked about SAGE recognition, administrator has
secretary hold calls, hides under desk in plush office and rocks
back and forth, chanting, "Call my lawyer." Lights seen burning
late in Murphy Hall "war room" as administrators plan strategic
response; the next morning, mysterious 10-page mimeographed
anti-SAGE legal brief appears in the mailboxes of all campus
employees. Administrators go on retreat to pricey Lake Arrowhead
retreat center to plan their next move.
Translation: The administration claims that their ability to
negotiate with SAGE is subject to legal deliberation. This is a
mode of "playing possum," attempting to avoid direct discussion of
ASE working conditions with ASEs. The university has the ability to
voluntarily recognize SAGE at any time. UC administrators have used
this excuse to stall ASE recognition for over 10 years, all the
while accruing tremendous legal bills – over $1.5 million of
university funds in the last year alone. All of this stalling is
being done even though Anita Martinez, Regional Director of the
Public Employee Relations Board, clearly stated in a May 6, 1994
letter that "voluntary recognition may be granted by the
employer."
Behavior: Over salmon at the high-priced Regency Club,
administrator chats with buddies. "ASEs call that work? I’ll show
them work! When was the last time you saw a TA take a working
lunch?" (Meanwhile, back at campus, TA guzzles coffee and shoots
dice for Twinkies with colleagues between student appointments.)
"They’re not really workers; they’re apprentices," administrator
explains to nodding cohorts. "Apprentices don’t need a union; let
them eat cake!"
Translation: The administration claims that the labor ASEs
provide is "incidental" – just a part of the student employees’
"learning experience." Teaching, research and tutoring are
enriching work; however, the bottom line is that most ASEs work
because they need the money and pay taxes on the money they earn.
The fact that the university has no problem acknowledging ASEs as
employees for tax purposes highlights the duplicity of their
argument.
Moreover, personal benefits ASEs may derive from their jobs are
far outweighed by the service they provide the university.
Put simply, the university works because its ASEs do. In fact,
ASEs provide most of the teaching contact with undergraduate
students.
Behavior: When asked about the possibility of a SAGE strike,
administrator calls the behavior of ASEs "unethical" and "harmful
to students." Flipping on his laser-light pointer, administrator
identifies sites on campus-scale model where rabid bands of SAGE
rebels have stockpiled picket signs and pamphlets. "Can’t you see?
They’re everywhere!" administrator growls, becoming pale and
sweating profusely. "I’m all that stands between you and them!"
Administrator picks up red telephone and cries, "Release the
hounds!"
Translation: ASEs take their responsibilities to and
relationships with the students they serve very seriously. When the
administration’s refusal to engage in good faith negotiations about
ASE working conditions threatens the quality of education ASEs
provide, a strike becomes inevitable.
How can it be ethical to waste university resources, deny basic
working rights, diminish the morale of valuable workers, and
endanger the smooth functioning of the university? Isn’t it more
ethical to sit down at the table and talk?
For the past three years, UCLA administrators have refused to
talk with SAGE – refused to meet with its representatives on equal
footing, refused to recognize, in essence, that over 3,000 ASEs
actually work here, and refused to recognize these workers’ right
to bargain over their working conditions. As the Public Employee
Relations Board’s Administrative Law Judge James Tamm has written,
the "University’s denial of bargaining rights to student employees
has over the past decade almost guaranteed the presence of
strikes."
Make no mistake: a strike this fall will be the direct outcome
of Chancellor Young’s refusal to be reasonable and negotiate. If
you do not want to see this happen, contact Chancellor Young at
(310) 825-2151 or send him e-mail at [email protected] and urge
him to recognize SAGE. To express your support for SAGE or to
obtain more information call (310) 208-2429 or e-mail [email protected].
If Chancellor Young continues to try to turn back the
evolutionary clock, a SAGE strike just seems natural to us.