[Corebotanyfaculty] Strike information

[Bpschair]

Hi Everyone,
I’ve heard from several of you with questions about specifics of consequences for striking students/academic workers.

1. How will pay be withheld from striking workers who did not perform their job duties?

In the Chairs and Directors meeting yesterday, we had quite a lot of discussion about the process, which is still not clear.  Union members will be sent strike attestation forms to complete (self reporting whether they were working or not).  I believe these will be issued weekly for the prior week.  We don’t know what the forms look like yet. We stressed that there has to be a mechanism for supervisors to check them for accuracy and edit as needed.  It is too late to adjust pay for November, so it will have to be done after the fact on the December check.  I will provide more information as I get it.

2.  The UAW has information on their website<https://www.fairucnow.org/strikefaq/> about students not be penalized for not doing academic work.  The language from the FAQ is below:

Do I still have to make academic progress while on strike?

You’re expected to continue making academic progress. However, you have the right to not cross the picket line to attend class. Academic obligations that you miss while on strike may have to be made up after the strike.

If you have academic credits associated with your teaching and research work, the university does not have the right to penalize you for striking by lowering your grade for these credits. Any attempt by the university to retaliate against you for striking by penalizing you academically is illegal. Your union will take strong, immediate legal action if UC attempts to do so.

I have had a lengthy discussion about this with the Graduate Dean Shaun Bowler.  The bottom line is that we don’t yet have clear guidance.  No decisions need to be made right now regarding whether you might, for example, give students Incomplete or NC grades for academic work not done during the strike.  I encourage you to think about this and consider ways you can assess student research progress during the strike, where expectations might not be as clear as they are in courses.

Not very satisfactory, I know.  I’m hoping the union and UC reach an agreement soon, but it doesn’t seem terribly promising to me.

Patty

Patricia Springer
Professor and Chair, Department of Botany and Plant Sciences
University of California
Riverside, CA  92521

pspringer at ucr.edu<mailto:pspringer at ucr.edu>
bpschair at ucr.edu
951-827-4413 (Chair's office)
951-827-5785 (Faculty office)
http://plantbiology.ucr.edu

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