grad student unionizing

[Nathan Newman]

The most credible argument is the effect on undergrads.  The rhetoric of
grad organizing is that "TA working conditions are undergrad learning
conditions" has some credibility, but in a system of zero-sum resources in
many universities, higher TA salaries can just mean fewer TAs per student
or the substitution of "readers" for full TA sections.

This is not separate from the general problem of public sector union
workers being  directly being employed by the citizenry, but is more acute
because of the intimate relationship of student "consumers" versus TA
workers.

Grad unionism (like most public unionism) has to be tied to broader social
unionism or else it just is one rather elite part of the workforce
striking against the rest of the (usually still elite) working class.

At Berkeley, being part of the UAW left most of the grad unionists rather
uncritically identifying with private sector unionism without much
discussion of the rather dramatically different realities of public sector
unionism.

--Nathan Newman

-----Original Message-----
From: Frances Bolton (PHI) <fbolton at chuma.cas.usf.edu>
To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
Date: Monday, December 07, 1998 9:18 PM
Subject: grad student unionizing

Has anyone (Tom L., Dennis?) come across any *credible* arguments against
grad student unionizing? I am supposed to be chairing a panel on grad
student unions next month at the AHA (Amer. Hist. Assoc--I'm there as the
Token Woman) and my role is to give good & compelling reasons as to why
grad sudents shouldn't organize. My initial strategy was going to be to
talk about the prob. of being in a union that is affiliated with the
faculty--but I want to try to avoid talking about my own union since
another panelist is also a member of it. I do not consider the "grad
students are not really employees" argument credible.  Maybe if I do
something on adjuncts? Any ideas? Anyone I could read that might inspire
me?

frances