Unprecedented Union Busting Tactics at NYU: DUer loses everything.

[readmoreoften]

Okay, well I haven't lost everything, just everything an employer can give. Here's the story:

I've been on strike at NYU for three months now. My job category is "teaching assistant", but I don't assist anyone. I teach expository writing classes, write my own syllabi, grade my own papers, and hold office hours. NYU teaching assistants were unionized from 2000-2004, but a Bush labor board is claiming that we're not workers. Now, we are working without a contract. Before we had a contract, we were making $10,000 a year with no benefits and no checks on how many hours we were expected to work. I know that in my department, we were expected to work 50-60 hours a week. The union negotiated a $19,000 a year salary, health care, child care, full tuition remission, and a 20 hour a week cap on our work load. Worst of all, without a union contract we have no grievance procedure.

Initially, around four hundred graduate students went on strike. The NYU administration has the top union busting firm on the case. At the end of the term, the administration threatened us with removing our pay (but not benefits) for the entire spring semester. Over a hundred international graduate workers signed a letter of protest stating that they were forced to return to work because they fear NYU's actions will result in their deportation.

But NYU didn't stop there. They rearranged the work load in a way that forced departments to hire massive amounts of scab labor for the spring semester, and now they are saying to the press that those workers who have been replaced are no longer striking because they have no work to strike.

Now, they have taken the unprecedented step of targeting the most vulnerable workers with retaliation. I am one of the most vulnerable workers. While most departments are trying to shield their graduate workers from attack, my boss offered me up for punishment. Only six of us are being punished for striking. Four strikers are losing pay for the next year. I am being singled out to lose pay, tuition remission, and health insurance for at least a year and possibly a year and a half. I have plenty of testimony that I am devoted teacher with a proven track record. I am simply being punished for refusing to cross a picket line and demanding that the workers who are hired after me will have someone to represent their interests.

This is ONLY happening because of the Bush presidency. The members of the National Labor Relations Board who were appointed under Clinton have vehemently dissented in our case. The entire City Council is withholding all funding from NYU, censuring NYU, and refusing to allow them to develop their property until they recognize our union. The Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer, is openly censuring NYU. Eliot Spitzer and Sen. John Edwards have written letters to the president of NYU demanding that he recognize our union.

I have basically lost my job and my means to finish school. My department is desperately trying to figure out a way to ensure that I won't have to drop out. If it weren't for strike benefits and student loans, I might be homeless.

I'm not afraid anymore. I've lost a lot, but I still can go to sleep at night knowing that I am out on the streets fighting the Bush administration every day. If you asked me four months ago, I would have never guessed this would have happened. I've learned that this administration can pull the rug out from under us at any moment. I've also learned that no matter what these assholes try to do to break my spirit, I will become that much stronger and I will fight them with a fury that knows no end.

My rights aren't for sale and I don't cross picket lines.

[MountainLaurel]

1. Good luck readmore!

Know that a lot of people working in higher education support your efforts.

[CC]

2. Sorry to hear you are

having to pay such a high price for doing what is right. It does at least sound like there are some also trying to (city council etc). Has anyone thought to get the students involved? I know a college here wasn't paying support staff (housekeeping etc) much so the students went on strike when the college wouldn't recognize the workers strike. When students started transferring they changed their tune fast.
I hope things start looking up soon.

[readmoreoften]

4. We're trying to mobilize everything/everyone possible.

We do have an undergraduate support organization. The undergraduates are about split down the middle as far as support goes. Since NYU is the most expensive school in the nation (something like $42,000 a year for undergrads and it's only ranked 36th). I would suggest any undergrad to transfer to another school. My grad program is ranked 5th in the nation, so that's why I've stayed.

By the way, if anyone personally knows the shop stewards of any union that does business with NYU, please let me know because the entire campus is a picket line.

[lovuian]

3. Just remember your the first of us and as time goes on you

will have lots of company... Your the Bravest person...we should give medal of honors to you and your friends...

[greekspeak]

5. I feel for you, as a fellow TA

What your union did for you sounds wonderful. The output/benefit ratio I get as a TA are about what you face (or worse) post-unionization. And I thought I was lucky to have what I do. Certainly I would think you need more money in New York. My main problems are two. One is that our profs pressure us to go to professional conferences, and we have to pay out of our pocket for that. The other is that our parking situation is abysmal. In NYC I am sure you have no parking at all. Here, it is all but neccessary. I would like to have grad student lots. But I am not bitching too much. It is more fulfilling than working as a temp secretary, which I did before I got my current gig.

[readmoreoften]

10. cost of living in NYC is astronomical

Most people I know commute from Brooklyn, share an apartment with 3-5 people and pay about $800-$1000 in rent on $19K a year salaries and they have to get up at 5am to make the 8am classes they teach. The washers and dryers in my apartment complex are tiny and cost $1.75 a wash. I have no kitchen in my apartment and I pay $1400 a month rent. I also have no air conditioning because it costs $600 a year. I can only eat microwaveable food or order out. Worse of all, you can't meet with friends at someone's house. There are no houses and many apartments are too small for guests (my girlfriend's apartment is 10x10). People meet at bars and most of the time I'm invited out for drinks, beers are $6 and mixed drinks are $8-12. In the rain, if you need to catch a cab it's usually about $8-10. Movies are $10.50.

I'm not a kid, either. This isn't some fun 'post-college' moment for me. I'm 35 and I come from a really working class background. My dad worked for the state, both parents served in the armed forces, GI bills, all that. I worked my way through my first round of graduate school as a stripper. (I'm too old and out of shape for that now.)

The worst thing at NYU is that we have absolutely no grievance procedure. So I had two weeks of full time training and I had NO IDEA if it was paid training or if I was supposed to just survive in NYC for half a month with no pay. It turned out that, I think, they paid us $300 for two weeks work. I have no idea, they paid us all differently. There have been people who taught extra classes and weren't compensated at all, even though they were told they would be. It's a mess.

[Zensea]

12. New York City is a bear

if you come into it from the outside, which is what it sounds like you did.
NYU, all around, is one of the more egregious examples of the bad side of the bear.
Good luck

[patrice]

6. What you are doing is very Important, the more so because there are so

few people to do it.

Thank you.

[no_hypocrisy]

7. DON'T EVER GIVE UP, GIVE OUT, OR GIVE IN.

Union Maid

by Woody Guthrie

There once was a union maid, she never was afraid
Of goons and ginks and company finks and the deputy sheriffs who made the raid.
She went to the union hall when a meeting it was called,
And when the Legion boys come 'round
She always stood her ground.

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union, I'm sticking to the union.
Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union 'til the day I die.

This union maid was wise to the tricks of company spies,
She couldn't be fooled by a company stool, she'd always organize the guys.
She always got her way when she struck for better pay.
She'd show her card to the National Guard
And this is what she'd say

You gals who want to be free, just take a tip from me;
Get you a man who's a union man and join the ladies' auxiliary.
Married life ain't hard when you got a union card,
A union man has a happy life when he's got a union wife.

[readmoreoften]

11. That reminds me... corporate spies and psychological warfare.

I forgot to discuss that. Yes, the administration was caught spying in the on-line classrooms of professors who are supportive of the strike and part of a group called Faculty Democracy. In a meeting with a union member, the president of NYU went on a rampage and accused this faculty group (about 250 members) of trying to destroy NYU (because democracy = destruction). There are also private detectives that watch us every day. When asked what they do with the pictures they take of us, the university publically denied that hired private detectives. They are either lying or the people who are watching us are, in fact, the FBI (or homeland security or the TIPS avengers or some other government agency...maybe the anti-strike taskforce or something.)

They have threatened us for so long, it has actually been a relief to lose everything because there isn't much left they can take from me. (I assume that they will take whatever I have left but I have become so detached from everything I own that I no longer care. They can't take what means the most to me: my dignity, my integrity, my talent, and my girlfriend. So I'm rich as far as I'm concerned.

Last semester I had to confront scabs every day and I was breaking out in hives. This semester I don't care because I'm on a mission and they can't break me.

[newswolf56]

8. SOLIDARITY! Kicked/recommended n/t.

:kick:

[CrazyOrangeCat]

9. Don't ever give up.

Fate is turning you into something really good, someone really powerful who will be able to help the powerless. Your writing and teaching will help justice prevail.

(Of course, it still feels like shit . . .)

:yourock:

[NanciNice]

13. You've made a brave choice.

Your courageous stand speaks louder than anything they are trying to do to you!

[Niche]

14. I'm so sorry for all our Unions.

Here's a short pro-and-con tale from what i know....

My mother is finally retiring after 30 years in Vegas. She is a strong Union Member. She would not have had her job years ago if she was not with her union. She has a pension, medical care and a fair wage because of the union!

My father on the other hand - staunch republican (long divorced), and avid anti union - at 63 has nothing, nothing... no pension, no medical, a crappy wage - just a lot of fear about how he's gonna hold his job in corporate sales competing with "the young guys"... and how he can manage retirement.



WORKERS FIGHT TO KEEP UNIONS! Fight for your rights.

[readmoreoften]

16. That's a great story.

So many of my colleagues have bought into this unions-are-the-mafia crap. The answer is simple math. My students collectively pay $350,000 a year to take my classes. Before the union we made $10,000 a year salary. Any questions?

[Doctor_J]

27. I don't suppose he'll have a change of heart abot which party represents

working people? Nah, whatever Rush says is waht he believes - can't trust those lyin' eyes.

[progressivebydesign]

15. I'm not clear on the whole TA thing.. do you get credits for it? n/t

[readmoreoften]

17. no

I teach the same class that other instructors and lecturers teach. I get the same training they get and do the same job they do. We teach 2 classes a semester of the same class for up to TEN YEARS during our Ph.D.s. How many years of "Spanish I" does a Spanish Ph.D. need to teach, when that class will ALWAYS be taught by teaching assistants and never by full professors? I don't even teach in my own department. It's just a job-- a job that some of us are locked into for years.

Fifty percent of classes at NYU are taught by teaching assistants. The university relies on our cheap labor to function. Only 20% of Ph.D.s EVER get a tenured position in the humanities and social sciences.

We're not kids or trainees. The age range of most of the people in my bargaining unit is 26-40. Most people have been teaching for at least three years.

I'm an MFA student at NYU to make professional contacts in my field. I'm actually planning on working in publishing, not academia.

[phylny]

30. It might be helpful to your cause if you and your fellow

grad students begin posting at places like this:

http://www.studentsreview.com/ultrasearch.php3

http://grad.studentsreview.com/

Information such as how many classes are taught by TAs tell an interesting story to an incoming student, plus it publicizes the cause nationwide.

Good luck.

[readmoreoften]

33. Thanks! I'm going to let people know about this site.

It was good to give an opinion.

[tishaLA]

18. We in the University of California system were the first to unionize

And we have to constantly struggle against the administration. Fortunately, we get support, most of the time, from my department (like the time we scheduled a labor action for finals week because the university system was bargaining in bad faith).

But don't fool yourself: you aren't only in your predicament because of george. You're also in it because you have a fucked up university president and I know Catharine R. Stimpson has shown herself to be scurrilous in her treatment of graduate student employees.

I really wish you and the other graduate student employees at NYU well. I don't know whether you know what happened at Yale during their struggle for unionization, but it was every bit as bad as your experience. Is there any action those not in the school can do? Do you have contacts at other universities so you can get advice from them?

[readmoreoften]

22. Here's a starter list:

Yes, we've been seen cavorting with all the other academic unions on the east coast. For now, there are many things that DUers could do to help us win our strike.

1) if you are in a union in NYC, your shop steward could help us stop service to NYU.
2) if you are in a union outside of NYC, your union could write a letter of condemnation or educate its members about our strike.
3) if you are an alumni of NYU, when they come asking for money, tell them that you're donating your usual amount to our strike fund instead of NYU.
4) if you are tenured faculty at another university, tell NYU that you are advising your students NOT to apply to NYU for graduate school.
5) if you are a high school teacher, you could tell NYU that you are advising your students NOT to apply to NYU because the condition of undergraduate education has been compromised and the environment is unstable (for example, last semester almost all sections of French and most sections of Spanish were cancelled. This semester there are many classes of 150+ students with no teaching assistants to help conduct recitation sections or discussion groups and no one to grade the papers.)
6) if you are a reporter, blogger, radio host, etc., contact me and I will give your information to our media co-ordinator.

Other ways to help...

7) link to our webpage: http://www.2110uaw.org/gsoc/ (I have to say, for example, that it's not super-dynamic or chock-full-of-info). If you're a high-charged web-designer maybe you could donate services!

8) you could write a letter of outrage to president John Sexton: [email protected]

9) you could write a letter of outrage to Dean Catharine R. Stimpson. She's dean of the Graduate School of the Arts and Sciences. She also made her career as a progressive lesbian feminist and is now ending it as a union busting tyrant. [email protected]

10) you could donate to our strike hardship fund. It's on the http://www.2110uaw.org/gsoc/ webpage. I don't know if I should link to it directly because I don't have Skinner's permission.

Also, sending me supportive messages is really good for my mental health. You guys really buoyed my spirits when I posted in despair at the beginning of the strike. I honestly didn't know how I was going to survive it all. My boss is very conservative and a lot of people are intimidated by him. I was in a department with one of the lowest strike turnouts. I lost all my acquaintances in Manhattan (who were then replaced by new, better, true friends in the union.)

In the end, it's good to know that people care!

[tishaLA]

24. I'm really pissed at Catherine Stimpson

I'm a Ph.D. candidate in English and I teach (and, as an undergrad, double majored in) women's studies and English and I think her actions have been just reprehensible. I used to respect her as a scholar; now I just think of her as an anti-progressive, pro-administration dupe.

We at UCLA know about what has been going on at NYU but, I'm afraid, because of hiring considerations, you shouldn't expect many of us to write letters to Stimpson. We do want to get hired in English Departments after we complete our degrees, after all. But I will send this message to the department listserv and I will send the information along to our union which, like yours, is UAW affiliated.

[readmoreoften]

25. Ironically, all the union members who've graduated have done well.

Some of the founding members of our union came in and reported to us that a high percentage of our members got tenure-track positions at great schools even though they butted heads with big names. I think we actually have bigger names behind us. In fact, I think another wave of big names are about to take a stand in our favor because they are so outraged.

[Lisa]

19. as a fellow TA/sessional, you have my sympathies

My department is trying to squeeze out those of us who've hit the top step in the pay scale -- they're treating us as if we've been conspiring to bilk them out of money, even though we've all been filling in for absent or ill instructors (often with very little notice).

That divide-and-conquer strategy is really revealing NYU admin's true colors, isn't it. That is so mean -- going after your career, your livelihood, and even your ability to complete your degree.

[readmoreoften]

23. If anything, the divide and conquer tactic is backfiring hardcore.

Our strike has been completely invigorated by the sanctions against us. People who were becoming sad and tired are now motivated again. These are people I'm friends with. We drink together, we eat together, and walk around in circles on the picket line in the freezing cold, huddled together to stay warm. It's no longer a vague threat against the faceless concept of "a worker". It's the woman standing next to you, who held you when you were crying just the other day.

Attacking us was pretty stupid.

[Lisa]

40. "the old power is alive"

I don't know if you're familiar with Tom Wayman's labor poems (he's a Canadian poet who's been writing about union struggles for a number of years, in both blue-collar and academic settings). But he did a wonderful piece called "The Old Power", about strikers picketing in the rain.

[mike_c]

20. solidarity, brother, and RIGHT ON!

:patriot:

[leftofthedial]

21. I wish I could help

Our entire country is becoming a shameful place.

[Doctor_J]

26. This is the kind of fascist symptom that is happening under the radar

and is very similar to the beginning of Hitler's reign. The packing of the courts, the NLRB, the FCC, EPA, and other such entites is doing untold damage to working people who don't even know it's happening.

Best of luck.

[Hissyspit]

28. Stay strong.

Thank you for the update.

[readmoreoften]

29. eh. a kick for myself. why not.

Sometimes when I'm not distracted with union organization and gay activism I'm reminded about how screwed I am. i need bread and circuses. actually, i am out of bread come to think of it.

[EFerrari]

34. Hey, I was thinking of you after reading an LBN thread

about the orgs that are supporting your strike. I'm sorry to hear things are so tough but very glad you checked in. :hug:

[fishwax]

31. solidarity from another grad worker

i'm sorry to hear about your situation, readmoreoften ... i think it's total bullshit how the administration has tried to claim you are somehow not "workers." :grr: here where i go to school, the grad students have tried to raise awareness, particularly with the faculty, in the hope that our faculty would be in contact with their colleagues (and with the administration) at nyu. i don't envy your situation, but i certainly admire your courage.

(also, if I may recommend the new DU Unions group: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=367)

[fishwax]

32. k/r

I recommend every thread I see about the NYU strike, because I think it is very important, and yet gets precious little attention.

:kick:

[readmoreoften]

35. I am SO HAPPY for this group. Thanks!

:hug:

Oops. I meant to respond to your other post. Anyway! Thank you for calling attention to our strike. DU has the dubious honor of having one of the two worst hit workers in the GSOC strike as a member. If you want any inside info, PM me and I'll do my best. I've got front line information. And believe me it is a *war*.

[fishwax]

36. I've PM'd you

thanks for your stand :hug:

[RandomKoolzip]

37. WOw. I'm so sorry.

Keep up the fight, though! Don't let the bastards take away your right to make a living.

[dsc]

38. I am so sorry this happened

Sadly many in unions won't understand why solidarity is important. We have to stand up for the likes of you or else there will be no one left to stand up for us. Unions are in deep trouble everywhere thanks to us letting the Air Traffic Controllers be replaced.

[robbedvoter]

39. I was already boycotting NYU - for destroying the Village

How evil can they get?
take your plight as public as you get in NYC - they are already reviled, the bastards!

[readmoreoften]

41. I know. I really felt guilty for even working there.

Now I'm getting my comeuppance! But I think that my attendance at NYU will help, in some small way, towards its unravelling because I will speak out against it for as long as I live. Only after moving back to the city did I realize *how much* NYU has destroyed the village, and by extension, a huge piece of the nation's cultural heritage.

I bet most people don't know that NYU BOUGHT AND CHOSE NOT TO PRESERVE EDGAR ALLEN POE'S HOUSE. They are also the largest private landowner in Manhattan. NYU is actually a vicious real estate company hiding behind a non-profit front business. (Larry Silverstein, owner of the World Trade Center) is a major trustee. NYU has one of the most conservative poli-sci programs in the nation; it suckles future neo-conservatives leaders. This semester alone it gave honorary degrees to Alan Greenspan and Henry Kissinger.

NYU is like Walmart or Fox News. Don't shop there. Don't listen to its rhetoric.

[Surya Gayatri]

42. God, you make me proud to be a Dem, read--

Your struggle will not go without recompense. Fight the power! You will prevail! Good courage & keep heart. SG

[I Have A Dream]

43. Do you think that it's a coincidence that this happened to you...

and that you're also a member of DU?

I'm so sorry that this has happened to you. This experience has certainly turned you into tempered steel -- you now know that they're not going to be able to break you regardless of what they do.

:hug:

[frustrated_lefty]

44. Question:

Are NYU grad students required to TA in order to receive tuition remission? And, if so, is there any limit to the number of semesters that teaching is required?

[readmoreoften]

47. Very Long Answer...

Work load, pay, benefits are all completely dependent on the situation of a grad student's department. For example, I have no idea what goes on in the school of Public Policy or Education. I know that the professional schools (Law and Business) are expected to pay out of pocket because they will make enough money in their respected fields to pay back loans.

The real issue is in the Fine Arts and the Arts and Sciences. We teach the majority of the undergraduates and, upon graduation, we face a very competitive field for jobs with low pay. If you make tenure-track, pay usually starts at $35-40K. And only 20% of grads in the humanities and social sciences actually get tenure track positions. Most Ph.D.s these days are living lives as adjuncts, who get $1500-6000 a course, depending on the school. Most adjunct jobs seem to fall around $2500. Adjuncts often live below the poverty level.

Going to NYU is about $20K a year. Minimum for a Ph.D. is 5 years, although most seem to graduate in 7-8, some take 9-10 years. So for all Ph.D. students in the arts and sciences tuition remission is dependent upon teaching. At NYU, students (I think) get one to two years of fellowship and then they get 3 years of guaranteed work and receive pay checks in the form of a stipend (taxes taken out and all). For the years beyond the first five they must hustle for yearly TA appointments, like all the MA and MFA students do.

Now let me explain the way MFA's work. This is the category I fall into.

Almost all the teaching assistantships in freshmen composition (a class that every single NYU undergrad must take, one of the largest segments of TAships) is taught by MFA students. Don't let the 'TA' title fool you. We are expected to teach our own classes, create our own syllabi, hold office hours, and forty-five hours of additional one-on-one instruction per semester. We generally are in school from 2-5 years and this is the only way for us to get tuition remission at NYU. The appointments are yearly, one must go through a grueling interview to get the job. There is absolutely no difference between faculty and myself in the way I am hired, fired, paid, trained, or teach.

The biggest problem at NYU, though, is that there is no grievance procedure without a contract. We can be fired at will, abused (one foreign TA was manipulated into teaching an extra class and not compensated for it), overworked, paid randomly (there was a serious problem with non-payment or late payment before the union), or not paid at all (I went through two weeks of full time training and was never given a straight answer on whether or not I would be paid for training.)

Unless you are a star professor making $500,000 at NYU for barely teaching, you are usually beaten into submission. And TAs are beaten on par with the adjuncts. MFA candidates are beaten worst of all. Most of the MFA students at NYU are extremely wealthy because no one else can afford the degree.

[Magginkat]

45. RE: DUer loses everything.

I will pass this on, along with a link to this thread.
This is disgusting.

And so many people have a royal hissy fit if we compare
this adminstration to Hitler. Hell, they are worse than
Hitler because they have a compliant media that Hitler
would have killed for!
............................................

Add me to your List George
http://new.petitiononline.com/GWList/petition.html

[Bill McBlueState]

46. you have support at UMass

I was on a busload of unionized grad employees from UMass who came to your rally on Tuesday.

On February 11, we're having a house party that will double as a fundraiser for your strike fund. I'm not up on all the details yet, but it should be a pretty big affair. With kegs. I'll post the details when I have them.

We'll beat these assholes; I can feel it.

[readmoreoften]

48. Thanks Bill!

We may have met. I was standing on the platform behind Amy when she read her speech. It was an AMAZING rally. Just what I needed. You guys are my heroes. We need to stick together.

[Quakerfriend]

49. You have my full support, as a past RA. Tell me why

has it become so complicated being a TA/RA??

In '86, we had full grad tuition paid + a $550/month stipend in exchange for doing 20-30 hrs/wk teaching undergrad students. That was it.

[readmoreoften]

51. It's actually a part of the business plan.

Divide and conquer. Help nurture resentment and professional jealousy. If there are 15 types of TAs and 25 tiers of payment, then workers will never be able to come together to fight for a mutual cause. The faculty is organized this way as well. In my department, most professors will never make tenure. A prof of mine made tenure this year after *15 years*. Another professor of mine is still not tenured after 15 or 20 years. They do get more money per class than most adjuncts. In fact, they make about 40K a year and I think they just recently got benefits. But they are in their late 40s-50s and they live in NEW YORK CITY. They've had to work up to 40K and benefits after over a decade of work, while their students pay tens of thousands of dollars a year a piece to study under them. (They have all had multiple books published too. So it's not a case of 'publish or perish.')

[mzmolly]

50. I'm proud of you readmoreoften.

Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hang in there!