GSEU PUSHES COLUMBIA TO ASSIST STUDENTS EXPERIENCING VISA DELAYS

In the fall of 2003, GSEU drafted a proposal for a university policy to ease the difficulties caused by extensive visa delays. Since the enactment of the Patriot Act and amendments to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), international students have faced tighter scrutiny, leading to discrimination and hardship. Many graduate students attempting to re-enter the US or renew their visas have been delayed for months at a time, and as a result, they have often lost teaching and research appointments and have incurred heavy economic burdens. For over a year,GSEU has been urging the Columbia administration to adopt simple measures which would address and ease some of these problems. To date, President Bollinger has refused to respond to our proposal, and Columbia's international students continue to experience delays. Read GSEU's letter to Bollinger here. Download a copy of GSEU's proposal here.

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AN INTERNATIONAL UNION WITH AN INTERNATIONAL VISION

With more than 1.3 million active and retired members, the UAW has a long history of helping workers who have been disfranchised by their employers or by unfair state or federal laws.

The UAW has represented a variety of workers at academic institutions for more than two decades, including academic student employees, faculty, administrators, technical workers, and support staff. Our members know how colleges and universities work, from budgeting to operations to administration to teaching. As in any workplace, knowledge is power --and the UAW's experience at academic institutions means strong contracts, higher pay, and improved benefits for UAW members.

That's why the UAW has become the union of choice for more than 15,000 teaching assistants, research assistants, and other academic student employees, including thousands of international student employees.

Through organizing, legislative advocacy, and litigation, academic student employees and the UAW are changing the nature of academic employment by establishing the right to bargain collectively on campus after campus.

- New York University RAs and TAs became the first-ever academic student employees to win collective bargaining rights at a private university


- After the UAW helped win a pioneering struggle for bargaining rights, 10,000 University of California teaching assistants, readers and tutors on eight campuses negotiated a landmark first contract in 2000.

- TAs and RAs at Brown, Columbia, the University of Washington, and other universities are joining the UAW, because having representation rights and a fair contract --with decent pay, benefits, and fair treatment-- enhances the quality of working conditions. Improving working conditions improves the quality of education for everyone at the university.

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OUR RIGHT TO JOIN A UNION: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Can I join a union in the US if I am here on a student visa? Can I join without any fear of repercussions?

A: YES. International students have the same right to join a union as US nationals. Graduate employees have formed unions and bargained contracts at many schools in the US over the past 30 years, and international graduate students have been an essential part of the leadership of these unions.

Q: Are there any restrictions on my ability to participate in union activities such as a strike or rally?

A: NO. Within the union you have the same rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association as US nationals. Political activities such as picketing, rallies, leafleting and demonstrations are forms of expression and free association, which are protected for international studentsin the US who have student visas.

Q: Will my union membership or union activity affect my future visa applications?

A: NO. It is against the law for the Immigration and Naturalization Service to ask you questions about your union membership and activities, or take them into account in considering your visa application. It is not against the law to ask a question about all organizations to which you belong, including unions, but this information cannot be used against you.

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VISA ISSUES: PROTECTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS' RIGHTS

Visas are an important concern for international students at U.S. universities. As union members, international students gain valuable allies and the strength of the union's political experience as a means of defending their rights. For example, in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the U.S., student visas have been the subject of considerable scrutiny and controversy. Some have been calling for new restrictions on student visas. The UAW is opposing any efforts to use visas to scapegoat and discriminate.

In 2001, the UAW and GSEU asked former Columbia University president George Rupp to join us in opposing the "Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001," which sought to monitor international students in this country and restrict some student visas. Read the letter to President Rupp here.

In addition, the UAW has co-sponsored a petition to reform the security-check process for student visas. Currently, hundreds of international students are delayed in their home countries for up to a year awaiting approval of their visas to study in the US. Read more about the problem here.

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THE TRUTH ABOUT THE H-1B

While thousands of international students holding F-1 and J-1 visas are exercising their right to participate in unions, the labor movement has been concerned for some time about significant restrictions on the rights of guest workers holding H-1B visas. Following graduation, some international students who originally came to study in the United States on F-1 and J-1 visas are interested in staying in this country and subsequently apply for H-1B visas.

Most often, H-1B visas are used by skilled workers with advanced degrees from outside the United States in order to work legally in this country. However, people who hold H-1B visas don't have the same rights that people holding other types of visas enjoy. Often U.S. employers misuse the program by temporarily hiring people from other countries for the lowest possible wage and by mistreating workers who have few options because of the work restrictions that accompany H-1B visa status.

"If you take an H-1B visa, you get tied to one particular company and that forces you to work for lower wages in return for coming to work for them," says Vasanth Kosnur, an Indian Ph.D. student in Engineering at Brown University. "It's a labor rights issues. H-1Bs harm workers on both sides of the border."

"Visas like the H-1B strip people of their ability to switch between companies, which makes them virtually indentured servants," says Wei-Min Brian Chiu, a Taiwanese Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. "People with H-1B visas can be fired arbitrarily because they have no recourse; they have no options."

To prevent such abuses, the UAW --along with professional groups such as the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE)-- has opposed the expansion of the H-1B program as it currently exists. UAW members believe that if you work in the United States, no matter what country you are from, you're entitled to fair pay, freedom to change employers, and the right to organize.

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GSEU PUSHES COLUMBIA TO ASSIST STUDENTS EXPERIENCING VISA DELAYS

THE UAW: AN INTERNATIONAL UNION WITH AN INTERNATIONAL VISION

OUR RIGHT TO JOIN A UNION: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

VISA ISSUES: PROTECTING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS RIGHTS

THE TRUTH ABOUT THE H1B

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