Charloween (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
charloween) wrote2008-11-05 08:06 pm
charloween) wrote2008-11-05 08:06 pm
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A good chance I'll be on a picket line tomorrow...
If York's strategy is to go out of its way to piss off the people it's negotiating with, they're certainly succeeding.
My reaction upon reading the most recent update from the University was the same as my union's reaction.
EDIT (to add cut): The University says: "GAs and TAs are full-time students, not full-time employees. They work an average of 10 hours per week. Claims by the Union that its members are paid below the “poverty line” are misleading, because these are part-time positions. Most Unit Teaching Assistants (TA’s) are currently guaranteed a minimum level of funding at a rate of $63.29 per hour, which would equate to full-time annualized earnings of around $115,000 per year."
Now. (Sigh.)
I agree completely with that first sentence - we are full-time students. No problem there. If that was the only thing the University and the union had to agree on, there'd be no strike. But after that, things go off the rails. Those of us with funding packages are not allowed to work more than 10 hours a week; so yeah, the average work week is 10 hours long. Again, not an untrue statement, but I'd certainly quibble on the wording.
The rest of it makes me furious.
1. "Claims by the Union that its members are paid below the “poverty line” are misleading, because these are part-time positions."
BUT WE DON'T WORK FULL-TIME. However, it is nice to know that - no matter how little someone makes - I'm not actually under the poverty line unless I'm working full-time. Part-time workers who don't make a lot of money, well, they're not poor because they could be working full-time and not poor. Yeah, exactly.
2. "Most Unit Teaching Assistants (TA’s) are currently guaranteed a minimum level of funding at a rate of $63.29 per hour, which would equate to full-time annualized earnings of around $115,000 per year."
BUT WE DON'T WORK FULL-TIME. Even in the GAship I have, I don't make $633/week. I'd make that every month, maybe. But I certainly don't make that every week (which I would, if I was working 10 hours/week at that quoted hourly rate).
I won't deny that York's TA's are paid well. What the University doesn't explain, however, is that a sizable portion of what a student-worker makes goes right back to the University as tuition. This idea that TAs work a day-and-a-half for a king's ransom (or, excuse the pun, a Lion's share) and then live the high life is absurd. We pay tuition by the month, and most of us get it deducted from our paycheques. Then comes rent, a metropass or tokens, food... leaving not that much behind. Certainly not enough to start up a numbered Swiss bank account with all that excess cash I'm running out of places to stash.
So, to any current York undergrads on my flist: yeah, I know the strike (if it happens) will suck. But I'll be on the picket line, and I won't begrudge the time I spend there. The University's official communications all through the bargaining period have been downright insulting. Pissing off union members is the best way to get them to accept your offer, York. Way to go.
We'll know for sure in about three hours if there is a strike. Given how little respect our local has been getting during bargaining, I hope the offer is rejected and there is a strike. Not only does the offer kinda suck, but being thrown a crumb and being told to be happy with it, oh you greedy whiners, isn't the kind of relationship I want with my employer - or with my school.
EDIT 2: It's official, as of 12:01 on the 6th, CUPE local 3903 is on strike. Last time this happened the fight was long, and this time around it doesn't look any more promising.
My reaction upon reading the most recent update from the University was the same as my union's reaction.
EDIT (to add cut): The University says: "GAs and TAs are full-time students, not full-time employees. They work an average of 10 hours per week. Claims by the Union that its members are paid below the “poverty line” are misleading, because these are part-time positions. Most Unit Teaching Assistants (TA’s) are currently guaranteed a minimum level of funding at a rate of $63.29 per hour, which would equate to full-time annualized earnings of around $115,000 per year."
Now. (Sigh.)
I agree completely with that first sentence - we are full-time students. No problem there. If that was the only thing the University and the union had to agree on, there'd be no strike. But after that, things go off the rails. Those of us with funding packages are not allowed to work more than 10 hours a week; so yeah, the average work week is 10 hours long. Again, not an untrue statement, but I'd certainly quibble on the wording.
The rest of it makes me furious.
1. "Claims by the Union that its members are paid below the “poverty line” are misleading, because these are part-time positions."
BUT WE DON'T WORK FULL-TIME. However, it is nice to know that - no matter how little someone makes - I'm not actually under the poverty line unless I'm working full-time. Part-time workers who don't make a lot of money, well, they're not poor because they could be working full-time and not poor. Yeah, exactly.
2. "Most Unit Teaching Assistants (TA’s) are currently guaranteed a minimum level of funding at a rate of $63.29 per hour, which would equate to full-time annualized earnings of around $115,000 per year."
BUT WE DON'T WORK FULL-TIME. Even in the GAship I have, I don't make $633/week. I'd make that every month, maybe. But I certainly don't make that every week (which I would, if I was working 10 hours/week at that quoted hourly rate).
I won't deny that York's TA's are paid well. What the University doesn't explain, however, is that a sizable portion of what a student-worker makes goes right back to the University as tuition. This idea that TAs work a day-and-a-half for a king's ransom (or, excuse the pun, a Lion's share) and then live the high life is absurd. We pay tuition by the month, and most of us get it deducted from our paycheques. Then comes rent, a metropass or tokens, food... leaving not that much behind. Certainly not enough to start up a numbered Swiss bank account with all that excess cash I'm running out of places to stash.
So, to any current York undergrads on my flist: yeah, I know the strike (if it happens) will suck. But I'll be on the picket line, and I won't begrudge the time I spend there. The University's official communications all through the bargaining period have been downright insulting. Pissing off union members is the best way to get them to accept your offer, York. Way to go.
We'll know for sure in about three hours if there is a strike. Given how little respect our local has been getting during bargaining, I hope the offer is rejected and there is a strike. Not only does the offer kinda suck, but being thrown a crumb and being told to be happy with it, oh you greedy whiners, isn't the kind of relationship I want with my employer - or with my school.
EDIT 2: It's official, as of 12:01 on the 6th, CUPE local 3903 is on strike. Last time this happened the fight was long, and this time around it doesn't look any more promising.
no subject
I wish I could bring you and your compatriots coffee or baked goods or something, while you picket. Solidarity is important, and solidarity is more...solid...with baked goods.
no subject
I might be on the line tomorrow evening, 'cause it's official: we're on strike. Luckily one of the girls in the program is a foodie, so we'll be sure to have some cupcakes at some point. Hoorah for muffins on the picket line.
Also, aargh.
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We might be in for a long fight this time, 'cause the one that's striking is also a highly politicized, incredibly active and intensely leftist union. Marxists abound at York. (Obama? Not a socialist. Sorry, GOP.) And a strong union isn't going to look kindly on cries of economic crisis.
Plus, there's so much damn bad blood around. The money wouldn't matter so much if we felt like we were getting any respect. I mean - saying that TAs would make as much as a tenured, salaried professor (and we know what our profs make (http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/english/publications/salarydisclosure/2007/univer07.html)) if they worked 40 hours/week, 50 weeks/year is bullshit when they're only paid for 10 hours/week (while they put in more hours they're not able to claim), working 24 or 26 weeks/year. How can you even compare those two things?