Getting to know collective bargaining
UW graduate-teaching assistants, graders, tutors and readers voted recently to authorize a strike if administrators refuse to recognize them as a union and refuse to give them collective-bargaining rights. The Faculty Senate held a special meeting on the topic Tuesday. Below is a Q&A on the collective-bargaining issue from the President’s Office.
Q: Are graduate student teaching assistants legally able to engage in collective bargaining?
A: State enabling legislation is necessary to allow state employees to bargain with their state employer. Currently, there is no state law that specifically defines teaching assistants as employees and enables them to engage in exclusive collective bargaining with the University of Washington Board of Regents. Such laws do exist for many University employee groups, including classified staff, nurses, and many trade-related employee groups. No such specific law exists for graduate students, faculty, professional staff, librarians, or other groups, at the University of Washington.
Q: May the University of Washington administration recognize a TA union and engage in collective bargaining absent this type of enabling legislation?
A: GSEAC/United Auto Workers filed a petition with the State Public Employment Relations Commission requesting that it certify the UAW as the exclusive bargaining representative for graduate student teaching assistants, tutors, and graders. Following a provision of state law that governs the Public Employment Relations Commission, the University was asked if it would voluntarily recognize the UAW as the union for its graduate students. The University questions whether it has the legal authority to recognize any union as an exclusive bargaining representative without enabling legislation. Even if it were able to do so, the University would choose not to without the structure and framework provided by legislation. Such legislation is necessary to define the composition of the bargaining unit and the scope of bargaining, for example. All collective bargaining agreements at the University were established and operate under legislative authority.
Q: Why doesn’t the University favor a union for the TAs?
A: The University believes the most fruitful and productive relationship between students, faculty, and the administration of the University is one of collegial and collaborative decision-making to address issues and solve problems. The University has a long history of change and improvement based on this model. The University environment is best characterized as a community of scholars, and this includes faculty and students. Introducing a non-University component into this relationship will alter it, transforming a mutual set of interests and goals into a relationship of management and labor.
Q: How many teaching assistants are there and how much do they teach?
A: There are approximately 1,400 teaching assistants at the University of Washington. Recent data show that graduate-teaching assistants are responsible for teaching 18 percent of the primary class meetings for all undergraduate courses. Most graduate assistants are not involved in teaching primary classes, but rather are engaged in teaching support functions such as staffing quiz sections and laboratory sections.
Some graduate assistants teach primary classes at the freshman and sophomore level. At these levels, 45 percent of the primary class meetings are taught by teaching assistants. These include the freshman composition sections, beginning foreign languages, and beginning levels of mathematics.
Q: What will be the impact on students in classes where teaching assistants are the primary instructors?
A: Faculty are assigned as supervisors to oversee and coordinate instruction whenever TAs are involved to ensure unit learning objectives are met. Thus, there are regular professorial faculty to whom teaching assistants report. We expect that if a strike occurs, student learning experiences will be continued, examinations proctored and grades completed.
Q: What will the consequences be for teaching assistants who do not fulfill their responsibilities to their students?
A: The University takes its obligation to students seriously. We know that our graduate student assistants share this commitment. Teaching assistants are expected to carry out the professional responsibilities for which they receive University stipends. Executive Order 28 (http://www.grad.washington.edu/fellow/execor28.htm) lays the foundation for the conditions of graduate student appointments. We do not know what kind of job action the TAs plan. TAs who do not perform their duties can expect appropriate consequences.
Q: What will the University’s response be, should buildings be blocked during a strike?
A: The University of Washington is a public institution. We are committed to maintaining access to our buildings by students, faculty, staff, patients, and, where appropriate, visitors. Normal institutional and legal procedures will be engaged to ensure that all buildings remain free and accessible.
Q: Will the University of Washington support enabling legislation for teaching assistants in the 2001 legislative session?
A: The University supports the principle that our graduate-student assistants should be able to choose the form of relationship they desire. The actions by some graduate-teaching assistants clearly indicate that having a choice is very important to them. The University will actively work to develop legislation governing these processes. This legislation must acknowledge the University’s unique culture and environment and recognize that academic matters are inappropriate subjects of collective bargaining. We will introduce and support such legislation in the 2001 legislative session.
Enabling legislation covering faculty, graduate student appointees, or others has been introduced almost every year for over 25 years. The University’s position has been consistent: it does not believe that collective bargaining is the best means of interaction and governance with its faculty, staff, and students. However, assuming legislation is enacted and the majority of graduate student appointees elect collective bargaining as their means of employee relations, then the University will engage in good faith collective bargaining.