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On Monday, math GSIs picketed outside of East Hall, where a small group of scabbing workers graded the final exams of hundreds of students whose GSIs are on strike. Grading the work of students one has not taught is violation of professional ethics and an infringement on academic freedom. More importantly, it’s not fair to the undergrads whose work is being assessed by instructors they have never met. Katie, a math PhD, explained, “We really wish we were proctoring and supporting our students this morning. We really wish we were in there grading, taking a really careful look at our students’ exams and being able to do the nuanced grading that we generally do. We’re sad that we’re not doing that this morning. We’re out here today to encourage people not to do our work for us. The small groups of graders who are scabbing can’t do as good of a job as we would be able to do all together. There’s power in numbers. Replacing our labor today weakens the power of union labor across the university. ”
The grades that these students get back won’t reflect their actual learning, or include important feedback. While the university might care more about churning out meaningless grades than instructional quality, GSIs don’t. We are on strike because we know our working conditions are the learning conditions that undergrads experience. We all deserve better, and it will take all of us to win the contract we deserve. As Katie put it, “We hoped that lecturers and post docs would stand in solidarity with us this morning. We asked that they not grade our sections. It remains to be seen what happens, but we were out here doing our part. We hope others at this University will do their part to support us.”
From the Bargaining Table
In Dexter, grads held another successful construction site picket. Starting at 5am, dozens of workers were able to shut down UM’s worksite for the day. Grads are standing firm on the picket line. Loay, a grad in Political Science, reminded us why: “the current UM GSI wage is not sufficient for me to support myself, to support my dependents, or live with dignity in Ann Arbor. I am picketing because the cost of housing in Ann Arbor is unbelievably high, and UM does nothing to make sure that its workers are able to live in the city where they work.”
At bargaining on Monday, HR proved inflexible once again. The University moved slightly, increasing tuition waivers for grads with low fractions, but once again refused to move on compensation. Grads made movement on the International Worker Assistance fund, after HR agreed to create the fund last week. Despite what UM claims, it’s clearly not grads who are being unreasonable at the bargaining table.
Hold the Line: Sign Up for Picket Shifts
At bargaining on Monday, HR proved inflexible once again. The University moved slightly, increasing tuition waivers for grads with low fractions, but once again refused to move on compensation. Grads made movement on the International Worker Assistance fund, after hr agreed to create the fund last week. Despite what UM claims, it’s clearly not grads who are being unreasonable at the bargaining table.
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