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Unions, Vitamins, Exercise: Unionized Graduate Students

Posted on: Thursday, 26 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By Dewberry, David R

After the turbulent labor history of America in the early to mid twentieth century, there has been a general decline of unions. Nevertheless, many graduate school teaching assistants are unionizing in attempts to gain better pay and benefits and remove themselves from an 'Ivory Sweatshop.' This article discusses a history of unions within graduate schools and the arguments of graduate assistants as student or employee. Also, an exploratory, quantitative based inquiry found that the drive is not omnipresent. A major Southwestern university was sampled and found that unions are not wanted even if they are needed.

Introduction

Get a good education and the world is your oyster. This is what has been preached to the millions of pubescent teens in high school. Counselors offer a plethora of ways to get into college. Everything from scholarships to military service can offer a good education and the opportunity of a successful life.

When reaching the point of becoming a college graduate, the onset of institutionalization, which also affects many prisoners, and the desire to continue education drives many students to graduate school. Here the glamorous promises of a great life fail, and the world becomes something of an ivory sweatshop. Many graduate students are offered assistantships in turn for a waiver of fees and a stipend. It is not called a salary, for to call it that would infer an amount of money.

In assistantships, graduate students teach introductory classes and assist professors in their research and large classes. The research assistants, in return for their effort, get a good workout from running down books and articles. A quest that would often leave Sherlock Holmes baffled. When all is said and done, their name might appear as the 17th author of a published work.

Some teaching assistants routinely grade up to 200 papers of such quality that makes them return to their undergraduate professors and apologize for any such work that they might have produced. This task often leaves very little time and motivation for the assistants to work on their own studies.

This article aims not to say that such abuses are not necessary, but that graduate assistants can have a voice about their working conditions. Graduate students often make less that one-half of the lowest paid University employee and work twice as much, which is often beneficial as it keeps them from spending money they do not have. The noneconomic factors are comparatively quite good, but improvements can be made. That is, if the message can get out. Hopefully, a group of communication graduate students can get out the answer to the question 'if education is so central to the new economy, why are they not rewarded for their work?'

The Graduate Student is a Person too..

The graduate student assistant (hereafter GSA) often handles sections of 15 to 30 students in introductory courses at universities and often receives very little instruction in teaching and is often only a few years older than their students (Ubiquitos TA 49). As the satirical newspaper The Onion published an article entitled "Teaching Assistant Spotted at Bar." The article humorously relates a fictional episode in which a handful of Western Civilization students spotted their GSA at a bar and stated, "Holy shit, its our TA... it's so weird to see him out in the world, at a bar, you just never think of him as being interested in anything besides Western Civ."

The GSA performs a valuable service to the university. By breaking up larger classes into smaller sections, students receive more individual attention, which humanizes the institution (50). The GSA often offers an energetic and driven interest in their respected field. They also possess the characteristics that they wished for in an instructor. One example is the ability to keep the class from becoming a one to three hour nap for the student.

Also, with the advances in technology, many classes are becoming'virtual' classes. These classes provide information via the Internet to supplement class lectures and discussions. Distance learning also is gain popularity as many adults wish to further their education but are unable to attend 'regular' classes. The GSA often becomes the means to which traditional course become online. Many believe that the "graduate education was one of the last places in our culture where a non-pecuniary apprenticeship mode of vocation could be preserved" (Johnson 21).

The GSA and the Union

The world of white-collar unionization is not the vision most people have when the word 'union' is mentioned. The traditional unage of the university is not the rat-race competition, rather the opportunity to explore ideas and make friendships that are not permissible in the dog-eat-dog pressures of commercial life (Lafer 70). The belief used to be 'white-collar exceptionalism.' Many academics feel victim to this line of thought, which suggested that they, the academics, were far from union material- unions were for autoworkers and the assembly line (Mattson 7). However, labor unions represent some 40,000 graduate students in over 27 universities (Mervis 1328).

This along with the fact that doctors pursued the National Labor Relations Board to recognize them as union employees, in an effort to press their complaints about HMOs that are obsessed with the bottom line, shows that many white-collar employees believe that the integrity of their work is threatened by business-minded principles (Mattson 7).

Graduate assistants are in a unique position. They are not purely student, nor are they simply workers. This metamorphosis of scholars is not considered by many university administrations as composed of quasi employees but wholly students. Thus, the assistants, as argued by administrators, are except from collective bargaining (Graduate Students Are... 6).

However, amidst marking papers, teaching introductory courses, and researching the influence of late 19th century immigrants on the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, some graduate assistants are able to lead and participate in unions. Christian Sweeney, such a person, served as the president of the University of California at Berkley's Association of Graduate Student Employees, UAW Local 2165 (Wildavsky 66).

The union at Berkley was not an easy journey. From 1983 to 1999, the union waged battle for recognition with the university (Bernstein 6). In the spring 2000, 9,300 teaching assistants had not reached a contract with the university. The leaders of the union voted to strike if there continued to be no progress. With final exams less than a few weeks away the union seemed to have a strong foothold (Wildavsky 66).

Joshua Rowland is much like Sweeny. Both study 19th century history, and both are labor organizers at major universities. Rowland was a doctoral candidate at Yale when he decided a career in labor law was in his best interest. The catalyst for such a decision came about after years of bitterness from the battle he and numerous other Yale graduate students have waged for nearly a decade as members of the Graduate Employees and Students Organization. Yale refused to recognize the union, for the GSAs were considered students not employees (Palmaffy 17). Threats came in the forms of losing their assistantships to less than favorable letters of recommendation.

Many criticized Yale's unionization attempt is driven by ideology as much as by career angst. Critics continue by explaining Yale's GSAs stipend of $11,000 is hardly sweatshop labor considering that they work twenty hours a week during two vacation filled semesters. Extrapolated into a full time job, Yale's GSAs would earn $38,000 a year- not including the free tuition and free health insurance (19).

Big name schools such as Yale and Berkley are not the only universities the have attempted unionization. The University of Wisconsin was the first in 1969. Soon followed University of Florida, University of South Florida, University of Kansas, University of Massachusetts, University of Oregon, University of Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee), Wayne State University, University of Texas, State University of New York (Buffalo, Albany, Birmingham, Stony Brook), Cornell, Columbia, Brown University, the University of Iowa, University of Maryland, and the University of Michigan to name a few.

The public universities had relatively few obstacles to overcome in the fight for unionization. Private universities encountered difficulties with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The board previously held that GSAs were primarily students; in 1999, the NLRB decided GSAs of private universities were employees for the National Labor Relations Act. The decision in New York University, 332 NLRB No. 111,2000 NLRB Lexus 748 (Oct. 31, 2000), granted the GSAs a dual status, which declared that individuals can have other relations with employers than just for the reasons of employment. Nevertheless, some administrators still claim that GSAs are not employees for they are admitted and not hired and are there for training not working. (Vaughn 47).

Faculty For and Against GSA Unions

Attempts to start a graduate uni\on are typically thwarted by faculty (McDonald 23). The University of Michigan's faculty, as opposed to Yale's, assisted in strikes. Not surprisingly, the campus was virtually deserted during strikes (Dirnbach).

Professor Johnson of Yale University recounts that he was excited to teach at Yale due to its "scholarly inquiry and radical visions," but was bemused when the faculty opposed Yale's graduate student's attempt to organize (Johnson 20). Those faculty members that were benevolent to the GSAs did little to aid or support the students at Yale. When Professor Joel Westheimer testified before the NLRB on behalf of NYU's GSAs he was fired despite exceptional merit reviews every year prior to testifying. He was the only professor fired, and he was the only non-tenured faculty member to testify.

The NLRB's decision heard opposing arguments on GSA unionization not only from NYU's administration, but also from Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford, John Hopkins, and Boston University. The board rejected all their arguments. Which proved valuable to private and public university's unions nation wide.

The movement to organize is believed to hamper the relationship between the faculty and the GSAs. Many GSAs feel that union membership influences the perception of the faculty, and thus, the grades may be in jeopardy. However, the NLRB's decision in NYU's effort to organize explicitly stated that those who directly advise the GSA in academic affairs are not those who have a employee- supervisor relationship with the GSA except in extremely rare instances.

The Drive for Unionization

The drive for unionization in higher education is in its infancy. The AFL-CIO has created a summer program that allows students the opportunity to engage in unionizing activities that will hopefully result in the formation of labor action coalitions on campus.

Obviously, methods for labor organizing are wildly diverse as in other social movements. Everything from registration to civil disobedience are both extreme polar opposites that can arise support for a union. My quest is to form such union at the University of Arkansas, a major public university in the southwest. In attempting such a task, I will rely on the straight-ahead unionizing technique of rhetoric with the hope of gaining an organization that possesses the right of collective bargaining.

I investigated the method of starting a union from the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Relations (AFL- CIO) and from the president of the union of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal State Employees Union at the University of Arkansas.

The process was quite easy. First, you must know something about unions. second, you should find out what union was the right union for the workers. Third, one needed to get in touch with a union organizer. And finally, you need to sign up members.

As the first three steps became completed, the final step proved to be the most difficult. I was going to speak with all the GSAs in Communication, English, and the Foreign Languages.

I chose these for the abundance of GSAs in each department. I also was known throughout these departments, so the credibility was ever present. Not to mention that I was close friends with some of the GSAs who would help in my research/organizing.

Naturally, I could not just go up and say, "Join my union!" I needed a good story or two. One catalyst for a union was economic and another was noneconomic. The economic means for a union was definitely easy. No one thinks they make enough money. My personal experience shows that one can make $68,052 per academic year and still claim to make very little money (University of Arkansas Budget).

The noneconomic reason was based on belief that the library is one of the most critical places ever to a graduate student. During a little weekend jaunt to Tucson, Arizona, I unofficially toured the University of Arizona Library. The library was open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. However, from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. you could only gain access through a university ID card reader. Just like the ones at some buildings at the University of Arkansas.

The University Libraries' goals and objectives derive from five major areas of responsibility: (1) Goals directed toward providing fundamental university library resources and services, (2) Goals directed toward responding to the specific goals and objectives of other units on campus and toward the support of new and special emphasis programs, (3) Goals directed toward maintaining and upgrading access to library and information resources, (4) Goals required to perform roles in interlibrary cooperation and expansion of statewide access to library and information services, (5) Goals identified through contact with our client groups.

As a graduate student/assistant my job was, according to the graduate school, to develop my intellectual potential in an environment of freedom of expression and inquiry and to enhance the academic integrity of the institution. I felt that I was not performing up to par. I needed the library more than it was accessible. Call me a nerd, but I felt I was cheated out of goals 1,2, and 3.

I hoped others would feel the same. After all, a union comes into being when there is a general condition of insecurity, some necessity, some appealing objective, or some unjust or irritating condition or circumstance to motivate the founders and stimulate the interest of the prospective members.

I spoke with twenty TAs in Communication, four TAs in French, and four doctoral candidates in Classical Studies. Also, I spoke with three professors, and workers at the Graduate Studies Office. I made repeated attempts to visit each as much as possible.

A few days earlier the Arkansas Democrat Gazette ran a story the decline of unions in Arkansas. Thus, my work, if you can call that, was off with the drive to educate myself and to turn the tide of events in Arkansas.

What the GSAs Had to Say...

As I approached GSAs with the idea of starting a union, I found responses that could be categorized into 5 generalized statements: (1) No, I will not join / It will never work; (2) I'd like to join/ help, but I'm really not sure if it is the right thing to do; (3) I will be unable to be a art of the union due to graduation, but I think that it is a bad idea; (4) I will be unable to be a art of the union due to graduation, but I think that it is a good idea (5) Yes, I will join, but I do not want to do or pay anything; (6) Yes, I am willing to join and help in any manner necessary for success.

Table 1

A majority of the GSAs in group 6 were enthusiastic about a union. As I asked many people if they were up for such a task. Just as I said, "I'm starting a union..." my close teaching assistant friends would interrupt "I'LL JOIN!" They knew nothing of what I was going to do, but I had their support. Around 40% of individuals represented in group 6 were, I believe, giving their support as a friend and not as a fellow worker.

Four were opposed to the idea entirely, and gave no reason for their response. Group 2 is best represented by the statement, 'I'll do it if everyone else does.' Individuals in group 3 stated their reason as they graduated in less than two months, and a union would be no help to them so it was a bad idea.

Individuals represented in group 4 believed that the union would help, and if not for themselves, they were willing to help other GSAs. Group 5 was the 'gratis group'. They were willing to sign any form and receive any benefit, but refused to pay, come to any meeting, or act on behalf of a union in any matter whatsoever.

What the GSAs Had to Say... Individual Responses

Katie stated unions had never worked in the past so why try. As I inquired of the cause of these beliefs, I found nothing more that popular culture driving these opinions. Patrick, a GSA and a waiter at a local bar, thought I was joking around and did not believe it could happen. He eventually agreed to help in a reclusive fashion. I explained in detail what I was attempting to do, and he was a die- hard member of Teaching Assistant Local 69. Georgia, a native-born Austrian, said that she would join upon my mentioning of starting a union. No questions asked. Moira said she would do it if everybody else would do it.

Julia exemplified many that were first year GSAs. She wanted more money and held the belief that whoever was in charge was screwing the GSAs. I inquired about who she thought was screwing her. Her response was a description of the Wizard of Oz- a man who seemed to have so much control but most likely was a not the decision maker in reality. I retorted that yes, I made little money, but I only had to work 9 hours a week. That equals to about $20 an hour. And the benefits of no tuition cannot be emphasized enough. A custodian in the room, a source of much inside information, interrupted and told us to not worry about that (i.e., the money), for we're on the road. Inadvertently, I drew her and others away from the idea of union. Among the graduating TAs, I received everything from that's a dumb idea to that's a great idea to I am dumb for not doing it earlier.

Brad exemplified group 5, which offered the most appealing desires. He is all but the typical iconoclast but acts, I believe out of fear of being outcasted and losing any money. He has been known to leave a .67 tip for a meal and think nothing of it.

Group 5 would reap all the benefits but would do nothing to assist in the formation of a union. Knowing these individuals personality I grew to the opinion that many in this group were determined to 'shake-up' the system no matter what the system was or would be. I believe that many knew I was a hard, determined worker, and my past performance in creating a student organization that fed communication students wallets with convention money that required virtua\lly no effort from the recipients aside from saying, "I want to go."

The Ph.D. Crowd

The doctoral candidates were enigmatic group. Their responses were, "Okay, I'll join and you can finish my dissertation,""Sure why not,""Do I have to do anything," and the most profound "Only if I can be president."

All the professors that I spoke with were ill disposed toward a formation of a graduate student union. Not in the case of stopping a union, rather they were in favor students doing something, and they preferred that something to be something for class.

Along with students and professors, I spoke with individuals at the Graduate School Office. They offered their support, but they claimed it would never work. Past experience was the means for such opinions. One individual claimed, "Graduate students are so apathetic that I can't imagine a union ever getting off the ground." Another claimed that there are many ways in which the graduate school can help with grievances in lieu of a union.

A reference librarian is a member of the American Association of University Professors. The librarian was the web designer for the AAUP of the university, and the current website had contact information for 1999-2002. Being 2003,1 was curious who was the current president. I was informed that there was no update for there has not been an election or meeting for some time. It was assumed that it would be the same.

Discussion

Understanding workers motivations before entering into the full time job market is largely left untouched in current research. Therefore, it is quite a tumultuous to draw any correlation between a student work experience and any union related variable. Only one GSA worked more than forty hours during their entire undergraduate career and majored in Latin. That person is the author of this article.

Most young workers engage in occupations that enhance learning or skill use, social interaction, and increase autonomy (Loughlin and Barling 2001). Relatively speaking, in the academic job market, GSAs are young and engage in a teaching assistantship in the effort to enhance learning and skills. Also, there are three primary situations in which a person voluntarily becomes a union member: (1) Instrumental motives (i.e., people participate for they believe that they have something to gain); (2) Ideal-collective (i.e., people participate due to the societal functions of the union); (3) Social pressure (i.e., people participate due to social pressure) (Klanderman 2001).

But the question that arises is what do the students want? Students have invested great time and resources to get a good education, and at the end they want a good career. The lack of experience is often more than compensated by intelligence and high levels of motivation (Buckley 31). The desire for good benefits such as a pension and healthcare are irrelevant in most cases when in their mid-twenties GSAs seemingly can live forever. What union attitudes exist typically stem from parental attitudes (Kelloway and Newton 1996).

In a survey of April 2002, recent collegiate graduates sought a balance between personal life and career (57%) over build a financial base (32%) (Graduate Look For...). Younger workers are driven to dissatisfaction not by low paying salaries or the type of work, but by the attitude of management toward them. Zemke et al (2000) stated, "They are not nave kids... they never expected the world to be a bowl of cherries."

Economic factors play a subtle role in faculty union decision making (Zalesny 1985). However, there is research that demonstrates the superlative role of noneconomic factors heavily driving decisions of faculty based on the content and means of work (Hammer and Berman 1981). However, individuals react strongly when there is a total lack of economic factors (Schriesheim 1978).

Conclusion

A union comes into being when there is a "general condition of insecurity, some necessity, some appealing objective, or some unjust or irritating condition or circumstance to motivate the founders and stimulate the interest of the prospective members." An employee looks to the employer to satisfy four legitimate needs, in order of greatest to least: (1) recognize and respect the dignity of the worker and skills thereof, (2) security of job, (3) opportunity for advancement in job and skill, (4) provide economic improvement in the standard of living.

Vitamins and exercise are good for your body, but not everyone uses them. Smoking and alcohol are not good for you body, but some people use them. Unions have desirable and less than desirable characteristics, and consequently, some have them and some do not. It is incontrovertible that unions have a tarnished image in American history. Nevertheless unions are quite beneficial.

Some graduate schools have unions. These unions exist in and out of 'right to work' states. Some GSAs that make more than twice the University of Arkansas GSA have started unions claiming their pay is insufficient. Others claim noneconomic factors as a reason for unionization. Arguably these conditions appear in any job. Yet, there are not unions everywhere.

GSAs have succeeded in many universities after much drawn out fighting with the administration and is some cases the courts. These battles take time, energy, and money. That time, at the University of Arkansas, is apparently better spent on reading; the energy is better spent on writing; and the money is best served for Thursday nights with the other GSAs in Communication.

In my observations, I have noticed that graduate school is not easy. The reading is difficult, the papers to write are long, and the teaching, if you get the opportunity to do so, takes up much time. Graduate school is a time where you must break all your dates and read more in one semester than you did during your whole undergraduate career.

However, it is a labor that many at the University of Arkansas enjoy. The workload is high and the pay is low. And every Thursday the money always seems to appear for the weekly escapade down to Dickson Street where the drinks are strong and everyone is good looking. Friday is English department night.

References

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Buckley, James. "Grab a Graduate." Employee Benefits (Sept. 2002): 31-33.

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Vaughn, William. "Apprenticeship or Employee? Graduate Students and Their Union." Academe 84 (Nov./Dec. 1998): 43-49.

Wildavsky, Ben. "Grad Students, The Sorest Apprentices." U.S. News & World Report 128 (20 Mar. 2000): 66.

Zalesny, Mary D. "Comparison of Economic and Noneconomic Factors in Predicting Faculty Vote Preference in a Union Representation Election." Journal of Applied Psychology 70 (1985): 243-256.

Zemke, R., Raines, C., and Filipczak, B., Generations at More Managing Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in your Workplace. Washington D.C.: American Management Association.

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"Ubiquitos TA." Time 85 (4 Jun. 1965): 49-50. University of Arkansas Fayetteville Budget 2000/01

DAVID R. DEWBERRY

Department of Communication

University of Arkansas

Copyright Project Innovation, Inc. Dec 2005

Source: College Student Journal

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