We all know that Graduate Student Instructors are vital to the mission of the University of California. Graduate students depend on the remuneration and health insurance they receive for working as teachers to pursue their degrees. In recognition of the value of their services, graduate student workers are classed as employees by UC and the State of California. Similar status was granted to graduate students at private universities by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the 2016 Columbia University decision that recognized the collective bargaining and unionization rights of graduate student teachers.
The Republican majority on the NLRB is now trying to overturn that decision by proposing a new rule on the issue (as opposed to overturning precedent when a case presents itself). But in order to do that, they have to allow and consider public comments. We now have a chance to support graduate students by testifying against the claim that graduate student unions disrupt the relationship between professors and graduate students in their academic pursuits. Given that GSIs on our campus have been unionized for two decades (state labor laws determine collective bargaining rights for public universities, whereas private universities are subject to the NLRB), we are in a special position to address this issue.
We believe that the graduate student union has brought greater stability to the relationship between faculty and teaching assistants by regulating hours, improving remuneration, and limiting the arbitrary exercise of faculty power. Collective bargaining has also reduced the incidence of the costly strikes that preceded recognition.
The Association of American University Professors (AAUP) is asking faculty to submit comments, based on their own experiences, HERE. They can be very short but should be individually authored, describing your own experience with unionized graduate students.
Michael Burawoy and Celeste Langan for the Berkeley Faculty Association