U-M Teaching Assistants to Strike?
U-M Teaching Assistants to Strike?
by Phillis Engelbert
If you are an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, there is a chance that your classes this fall semester may be interrupted by a Teaching Assistants strike. Graduate Student Teaching Assistants, more commonly known on campus as TAs, teach 40% of the courses at the U-M and they have been working without a contract since April.
About 1,600 TAs and Staff Assistants at the U-M are represented in their contract negotiations with the U-M Administration by the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO). The TAs' 1989-91 contract expired on March 1 and has been extended four times, the last time expiring on April 5. GEO and the University Administration have been negotiating since January and are currently in a process of mediation. A session with the state mediator was held August 8 but did not yield any significant movement toward a contract. Bargaining is scheduled to resume September 13.
At the U-M, TAs are often an undergraduate student's main source of individual attention and guidance. TAs lead discussion sections and labs, provide individual help with problem sets and research papers, grade writing assignments and examinations, and hold office hours to meet with students on a one-to-one basis.
As the U-M heads into the financial crunch of the 1990s, the Administration is attempting to balance the budget on the backs of TAs. In recent years, tight departmental budgets have resulted in a university-wide practice of increasing class size while reducing the numbers of TAs hired (there has been a loss of over 200 TA positions in the last five years). In many cases a TA's teaching load has even doubled or tripled. This work "speed up" forces TAs to work hours far beyond the amount they are compensated for, increasing stress on the TA and diminishing the amount and quality of time a TA can devote to each of their students. In some cases the Administration has hired undergraduates at low wages with no benefits, to teach and grade in the place of TAs. And some departments are relying more heavily on mechanical "scantron" (machine-graded multiple choice) tests and less on qualitative tests, so they don't have to pay TAs to give students meaningful feedback on their work.
Three of GEO's most important issues are class size limits, partial tuition waivers for TAs working low-hourly appointments, and payment for adequate teaching or grading preparations. These demands, all of which would have a direct impact on the quality of undergraduate education, have been met with stiff resistance from the U-M Administration
GEO is asking for a class size limit of 35 for the 1991-92 academic year, with a 30-person limit in subsequent years. This is because no student can have a genuine learning experience in a huge discussion group, or in a lab where there are more students than lab spaces. Students tend to feel like a number, rather than like a significant participant having personal exchanges with other students and the instructor. Large class sizes also place an overly demanding workload on TAs.
Another GEO proposal is for partial tuition waivers to be granted to TAs with appointments under quarter-time. At present, TAs working quarter-time or more receive full tuition waivers and health benefits and those working less than quarter-time receive none. Thus, the Administration has an economic incentive to reduce existing appointments to below quarter-time. The Administration has created a classification of "graders," TAs who are not paid to attend lectures, read books or otherwise become familiar with the course material, but who are expected to grade course papers and exams. This seriously hampers a TA's ability to give meaningful feedback to a student's work.
GEO is also attempting to rectify the lack of TA preparedness to teach or grade, through a proposal that the Administration count preparation time (i.e. reading books for English classes or watching films for film classes) in a TA's hourly appointment and to provide adequate compensation for this time spent.
The Administration has not embraced any of these proposals, and has been particularly opposed to the imposition of class-size limits and to partial tuition waivers (GEO has modified that proposal to that of a 50% waiver for TAs working 1/5 time, and no waivers for lower appointments). In addition, the Administration has informed GEO that the cost of any new contractual agreements would be deducted from the 4.5% salary increase the Administration is offering.
The University Administration claims that budgetary constraints prevent them from offering GEO a contract honoring class size and other GEO demands. When looking at U-M revenues and expenditures, the Administration 's cries of poverty become highly suspect. Tuition increased 6% last year and 9.7% for the fall term 1991 (it may raise again in January, 1992). At the same time, state appropriations increased 4.3%. And the University 's endowment has grown from $114,504,086 ten years ago to a whopping $497,503,682 today (the endowment is a fund which is invested, from which only the interest may be spent).
Elements of GEO's current proposal, including tuition relief, paid TA training, and others, would only cost the University Administration a total of approximately $200,000. And a salary increase equal to the rate of inflation would cost the University Administration approximately an additional $750,000. These are small demands considering that TAs salaries and benefits make up less than 2% of the University's overall budget.
Over the past year, in an attempt to win a fair contract from the University Administration, GEO members participated in pickets, walk-outs, controversial bargaining proposals, and many other tactics. Last April, when it became apparent that the Administration would not budge at the negotiating table, GEO undertook two work stoppages. A one-day strike on April 4, passed by 50% of GEO's membership by a 78%-22% margin, was successful in shutting down many departments. Although the Administration threatened to file an unfair labor practice motion after the work stoppage, no such action was taken.
In subsequent mediation sessions the Administration remained recalcitrant. In response, over 50% of GEO members, by a 71%-29% margin, called for a second, three day work stoppage, April 17-19. The Administration issued a warning that each participating TA would be docked $150/day for participating and would be expected to sign an oath testifying that they did not participate in the work stoppage. GEO put up posters denouncing these McCarthyite tactics and went ahead with the work stoppage. The Administration still did not change their bargaining position. Nor did they break off mediation or penalize TAs for participating in the work stoppage.
The University Administration and GEO have a long history of confrontation. Borne out of a month long strike in
(see GEO, page 14)
GEO (from page one)
February 1975, GEO has successfully gained health benefits, tuition waivers, salary increases, agreements on non-discrimination and affirmative action, training, and a fair grievance procedure for most of its membership. After GEO won most of its demands around pay increase and in-state tuition status and ended the strike, the University Administration dragged the union through six years of courst battles until the GEO won legal recognition in 1981. Now the Administration is signalling that they wouldn't mind returning to the pre-GEO days when they could arbitrarily impose fees, take away tuition waivers and the grievance procedure, and provide no health benefits.
The present University Administration seems particularly intent on breaking GEO. This can be seen in their intransigence at the bargaining table, intimidation tactics against TAs willing to participate in job actions, and their attempt to divide ("teachers" vs. "graduates") the GEO bargaining unit.
There is much at stake for all U-M students. Supporting the actions of GEO is your best bet to holding the University accountable to its madate of providing the public with high-quality education.
Phillis Engelbert is the membership organizer for GEO.
Pull quote: At the U-M, Teaching Assistants are often an undergraduate student's main source of individual attention and guidance.