ucberkeley: GSI Strike

Michelle (

riven_raine) wrote in

ucberkeley,
@ 2007-09-27 14:16:00

GSI Strike
I don't know why there is going to be a strike, but my GSI for History 127 announced it before class. He provided this phone number if you want to call the board and support the GSIs.

(510) 642-7464

I know there are a few GSIs on here, does anyone have some insight?

(Post a new comment)

	rhiannonstone 2007-09-27 09:23 pm UTC (link)
	My GSI told us this morning: apparently the big cheeses at UC are refusing to even come to the table to discuss meeing the GSI union's demands. Standard contract-negotiation stuff that happens every few years, I guess. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	mangoteacosy 2007-09-27 10:57 pm UTC (link)
	Hmm. Christian didn't mention this. Do you have Rebecca, or did he just forget? It's sort of sad; only four people showed up to section this morning. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	busylilbear 2007-09-27 11:03 pm UTC (link)
	wait are you talking about ling 100? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	mangoteacosy 2007-09-27 11:07 pm UTC (link)
	yup. which section are you in? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

busylilbear, 2007-09-28 02:19 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

mangoteacosy, 2007-09-28 02:55 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

into_the_street, 2007-09-28 06:00 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

krecik, 2007-09-29 05:27 am UTC (Expand)

	rhiannonstone 2007-09-28 01:15 am UTC (link)
	I have Rebecca for my LING 100 section, but it was actually my LING 110 GSI (Molly) who mentioned it this morning. That is pretty sad; I may not go to lecture as often as I should, but I at least show up for section! ;) I really need a Linguistics icon. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	mangoteacosy 2007-09-28 01:40 am UTC (link)
	Ah. It's interesting who talks about these things and who doesn't. Christian did comment that the women were the ones who seemed to make the effort to come to a 9am section; I was, of course, suffused with pride. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	catabolicmind 2007-09-29 04:46 pm UTC (link)
	I likes your pretty icon. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	evcleargrl 2007-09-27 09:36 pm UTC (link)
	Don't know anything about it, and I'm a GSI. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	nekrenas 2007-09-27 10:18 pm UTC (link)
	You're a chemistry GSI. I don't think we're usually bothered with such antics. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	evcleargrl 2007-09-28 12:51 am UTC (link)
	seriously. but i hadn't even heard about it! (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

	amartagis 2007-09-28 01:58 am UTC (link)
	Just out of complete curiosity, what chem class are you a GSI for? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-28 02:23 am UTC (Expand)

(no subject) -

eigenvalue, 2007-09-28 06:21 pm UTC (Expand)

	chriswizard 2007-09-27 09:54 pm UTC (link)
	My GSI said that it had to do with the fact that their contract is expiring on Monday, and that they had no contract in the works to take its place. So I don't know about it being a strike- more like a lack of a contract, and why would they work without a contract? (Reply to this) (Thread)

(Deleted post)

berkeleybeetle
2007-09-28 01:37 am UTC (link)

I don't mean to get into a big discussion about the union's communication and honesty issues, but this statement:

"Obviously, if you have classes that are run by GSIs covered by the contract, they will be cancelled if there is a strike."

is false. The university certainly won't cancel courses, so it'll be up to the individual GSIs, who may decide to hold class. This especially includes nonunion GSIs, who are covered under the contract but are extremely unlikely to strike.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

(Deleted post)

(no subject) -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-28 03:42 am UTC (Expand)

(Deleted post)

	letnja_kisha 2007-09-27 10:29 pm UTC (link)
	Hey, I am a GSI, and I was wondering (since I couldn't come to the meeting) - do you know what I would do if I want to support the strike, but I REALLY don't want to cancel class. I teach a language class, I really enjoy it, and I feel responsible to my students. Is there anything else I can do? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	Just a thought katworthy 2007-09-27 10:45 pm UTC (link)
	In situations like this (when I was a young whipper-snapper at UMich), some GSIs held sections in a cafe rather than in a classroom. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

letnja_kisha, 2007-09-27 11:04 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

heymon32, 2007-09-27 11:21 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

bigsherm, 2007-09-28 04:34 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

eigenvalue, 2007-09-27 11:53 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-28 12:53 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

letnja_kisha, 2007-09-28 01:06 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

chasingred, 2007-09-28 09:42 am UTC (Expand)

(Deleted post)

Re: Just a thought -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-28 02:53 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-28 02:54 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-28 02:54 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

eddthegnome, 2007-09-28 07:13 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

sock_muppet, 2007-09-28 10:06 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

eddthegnome, 2007-09-28 10:38 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-28 11:18 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

sock_muppet, 2007-09-29 12:39 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

sock_muppet, 2007-09-29 12:40 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-29 04:06 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

chasingred, 2007-09-29 01:04 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-29 04:14 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

eddthegnome, 2007-09-29 04:39 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-29 04:02 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-29 04:17 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

evcleargrl, 2007-09-29 05:08 pm UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

sock_muppet, 2007-09-29 12:23 am UTC (Expand)

Re: Just a thought -

wageslave, 2007-10-01 10:45 am UTC (Expand)

pinappl919
2007-09-28 05:50 pm UTC (link)

In my French class during the last GSI strike, she had optional "study groups" in cafes during class time. It seems less like undermining the class, since they were run more like extra office hours, and you are still holding up your end of the bargain to your students. Still don't know how many people would show up at 9am. Maybe those who like their coffee?

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

(no subject) -

pinappl919, 2007-09-28 05:51 pm UTC (Expand)

Strike

fayeg
2007-09-30 07:46 pm UTC (link)

I understand how you feel. All devoted GSIs are in the same situation-- we want to support our rights and the rights of the GSI community, and yet of course we feel responsibility to our students. The fact remains that striking is the one small power we still hold, and we need to do what we can to come to terms with the fact that we're not the ones failing the students-- it is the university that is at fault. Any student who truly values her GSI should understand this and support our actions.

As for those of you who want to hold unofficial classes, please refer to the literature your department's union rep should have made available to you. It strongly insists that a "half-strike" of this kind is what we absolutely have to avoid. For one, if you "half-strike," you no longer fall under the union's protection (i.e., you can be punished for shirking your section-leading duties). This means that during the time of the strike, you cannot meet with students outside of class time--you can't even email them! You also need to hand in all grading materials to your department on the very first day.

I am a union member, but I have no other connection with our union-- I don't even always support its tactics. Strikes are drastic measures...but I've been paying attention to the ins and outs of this faux-negotiation, and I can say that I feel like drastic measures are finally called for.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)(Expand)

Re: Strike -

yami_mcmoots, 2007-10-01 10:24 pm UTC (Expand)

(Deleted post)

evcleargrl
2007-09-28 02:59 am UTC (link)

you're not screwed actually because the university isn't going to just stop paying you if you're doing your job. the whole points of benefits from the union is if the university stops paying you and that will only happen if you stop doing your job. the university cannot arbitrarily stop paying GSIs just because a contract ran out. (Especially since we all signed those little contracts in the beginning of the semester).

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

	wageslave 2007-10-01 10:48 am UTC (link)
	The whole point, though, is to make sure that we have the same pay and benefits (or, gasp even slightly better ones!) NEXT semester, when it won't matter what contracts we signed in August. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	evcleargrl 2007-09-28 03:48 am UTC (link)
	um... why were all those posts deleted. hmph. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	l8rdrew 2007-09-29 03:57 am UTC (link)
	second. (Reply to this) (Parent)

Here's the email the union sent out today

yami_mcmoots
2007-09-28 06:07 am UTC (link)

With four days until the expiration of our contract, the University of California administration continues to stall negotiations. As a result, our bargaining committee is filing dozens of unfair labor practice (ULP) charges against the UC today.

If you have been following our regular bargaining updates, you know that these practices of stalling, withholding pertinent information, and sending people to the table who do not have the authority to make agreements constitute an ongoing obstructionist trend since negotiations began in March. The bargaining committee remains committed to doing everything in our power to reach an agreement with the university administration by September 30th. However, if the administration continues to bargain in bad-faith , we are prepared to call a strike.

... I dunno, I think "there's going to be a strike" is a bit of a stretch at this point.

(Reply to this)

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login or password? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…

About

Help

Get Involved

Legal

Store

LJ Labs