| GSOC STRIKE FAQ | |
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Why
are we going on strike now? How
long will the strike last? What
if NYU docks strikers' pay? Are
there any special concerns for international students who strike? What
about our obligation to our undergraduate students? NYU
says they tried to negotiate with us and we refused. Is this true? Did
union grievances interfere with academic decision-making as NYU claims?
We are on strike because we are better teaching, research and graduate assistants with the security of a union contract. Our first contract raised stipends by 40% on average, provided employer-paid health care, paid leave, workload protection, paid TA-training, child care benefits, a grievance resolution procedure and many other important workplace rights. We have demonstrated repeatedly that the vast majority of NYU graduate employees want union representation, we are determined to win a second contract, and we have overwhelming support among faculty, undergrads and the broader community. Yet the NYU administration still refuses to recognize our union and negotiate in good faith with us. back
to top Striking means that all members of GSOC/UAW Local 2110 who are working this fall as TAs, RAs and GAs will withhold our labor, starting Wednesday, November 9th until the NYU administration agrees to bargain with us in good faith. Being on strike means not teaching, grading, advising, performing GA or RA work or any other task which is part of our TA/RA/GA responsibilities. Being on strike also means that all GSOC members, whether working this fall or not, should join our picket line and refuse to do the work of striking colleagues. Every GSOC member should stay informed via the "strike center" on our website and sign up for picket shifts online. We urge all GSOC members to volunteer time to help with the strike. There are dozens of ways in which you can contribute, including, finding space to re-locate classes, making signs, phone banking, etc. Email gsoc@2110uaw.org or call the GSOC office at 212.387.0220 to find out what you can do. Why are we going on strike now? Over the last few months, we have demonstrated again and again that graduate assistants at NYU want a union contract. Last spring, over 800 grad assistants, a vast majority of our members, signed an open letter to President Sexton, calling on him to negotiate a second contract. Last summer, hundreds of us, together with faculty members, undergraduates, and supporters, turned out to President Sexton's town hall meeting and expressed our demand for a contract. On August 31, the last day of our contract, we once again gathered in the streets, calling on President Sexton to return to the bargaining table, and 76 people were arrested in an act of civil disobedience protesting the administration's refusal to bargain. Most recently, last week the membership of GSOC voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike. We believe that we have made every effort short of a strike to bring the university back to the negotiating table. After working with a contract for four years, GSOC members do not want to work without one. NYU has promised to "take care of us" without a contract, but we have already seen our health benefits cut and our co-pay costs go up considerably for prescription drugs, mental health care and off-site services such as X-rays, MRIs, or mammograms. How long will the strike last? The duration of the strike is in many ways up to NYU. The sooner the administration agrees to bargain with us in good faith, the sooner the strike will end. It's important for the administration to understand that we want a contract and that we are not going away. What if NYU docks strikers' pay? Our union, the UAW, has a strike fund that applies to any strike that lasts longer than a week. Weekly benefits are $200 for members who participate in strike activity (usually picketing), and the fund will also cover our health care if NYU were to cut it off. In other strikes, our union has also raised additional hardship funds for members in need, to cover bills such as rent, telephone, Con Ed, etc. Many faculty have already vowed to refuse to report striking GSOCers to the administration, making it more difficult for NYU to actually dock pay. Are there any special concerns for international students who strike? Gail Szenes, director of NYU's Office of International Students and Scholars, has already gone on record in the 11.03.05 Washington Square News debunking the rumor that international students could face deportation if they strike. Szenes said, "As long as the international students don't engage in any illegal activities, they should be fine." http://www.nyunews.com. International students have the same rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association as US citizens. Picketing, rallies, leafleting and demonstrations are legal activities, which are protected for international students in the US on student visas. International students
at numerous other universities, including Columbia, Yale, University of
California, and UMass have participated in strikes, and there has been
no impact on their visa status. Click here to read a letter of support for the strike from international students at NYU and Yale. What about our obligation to our undergraduate students? We are on strike because we are better teaching, research and graduate assistants with the security of a union contract. Our working conditions are our students' learning conditions, and when we talk to our students about why we are striking, they overwhelmingly understand and support us. The strike will be disruptive, and that disruption will affect undergraduates. But the short-term inconvenience of missing recitation sections and having lectures relocated is worth the long-term benefits, for undergraduates, of having TA's with the security of union contract who don't have to work second jobs or worry about their health care costs. Last spring NYU undergraduates formed GUS, Grad/Undergrad Solidarity, a group devoted to helping our union win a second contract. Over 500 undergraduates have contacted us to stay updated about the strike and our fight for a second contract. GUS members have been visiting lectures and classes to speak in support of our strike, and undergrads across the campus have been urging their professors to move classes off campus and their parents to support us. For tips on talking to undergraduate students or information on undergraduate support, go to the strike center. It is inconsistent with the values of a university, including academic freedom, for faculty to threaten GSOC members with retaliation for making the good faith decision to strike. Not all NYU faculty support our union or our decision to strike; however, all NYU faculty should respect our right to decide for ourselves whether we want a union and our right to strike in order to keep our union. Over 250 faculty have signed a statement of neutrality, pledging to respect the right of GSOC members to strike without facing threats, intimidation or retaliation. Over a dozen departments as well as the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Tisch School of the Arts, and the Gallatin School of Individualized Study have passed resolutions in support of GSOC. Hundreds of faculty are moving their classes off campus in order to respect picket lines. If faculty in your department have not signed the neutrality statement or passed a resolution, urge them to do so. The more GSOC members who collectively make these requests, the more powerful they will be. Faculty can sign the neutrality statement here. To see the faculty resolutions, go to: http://www.fdnyu.blogspot.com/ NYU says they tried to negotiate with us and we refused. Is this true? The Administration never bargained with us. Instead, in August, they gave us 48 hours to respond to a "take it or leave it" offer that would have allowed them to cut health benefits at any time, eliminated union security and given the Administration final authority on grievances or interpretation of any area of the contract. In response, we asked for face to face negotiations to discuss all the issues -- the Administration refused. The
text of the University's offer can be read here. Did union grievances interfere with academic decision-making, as the administration claims? Every grievance GSOC
has filed concerned our compensation or working conditions. What Sexton
and McLaughlin call "interfering with academic decision-making"
were our objections to their cutting TA and GA compensation, often by
50%, to adjunct or hourly rates of pay. Grievances filed on behalf of
GSOCers facing these cuts are hardly "academic." NYU likes to portray our union activity as the work of Auto Workers and outsiders. But we - the GSOC membership - are the union and are proud to be part of UAW Local 2110. The staff and leadership of our union work hard to serve our members, and we are stronger for being in a union that includes all kinds of workers: graduate employees throughout the country, adjuncts at NYU, professionals at the Museum of Modern Art, office staff at Columbia and Barnard, writers at the Village Voice, and yes...auto workers! |
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