[Poscgrad] Department Statement on the Strike by Graduate Student Employees

Sat Dec 3 16:40:31 PST 2022

Just following up on this: thanks to all who worked on the Department statement. With apologies for cross-postings, I am attaching below a message from the Council of UC Faculty Associations (CUCFA), responding  to the now-infamous memo from Michael Brown, which (rightly) provoked a great deal of outrage and consternation systemwide.  As you can see, the information in the Brown memo has been characterized as potentially misleading, in failing to distinguish between faculty being on strike, and refusing to pick up struck labor.

Farah Godrej <https://sites.google.com/ucr.edu/farahgodrej>
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Political Science
University of California, Riverside 
(she/her/hers)

Author of Freedom Inside? Yoga and Meditation in the Carceral State <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/freedom-inside-9780190070090?cc=us&lang=en&> (Oxford University Press, 2022) preview <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjC3q9Wh_kM>
" <https://www.cambridge.org/core/societies/american-political-science-association/a-juneteenth-collection-from-the-apsa-journals?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=MNE_campaign>A Juneteenth Collection: Examining the Structure and Consequences of the Carceral State <https://www.cambridge.org/core/societies/american-political-science-association/a-juneteenth-collection-from-the-apsa-journals?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=MNE_campaign>,” in American Political Science Review
 "Yoga, Meditation and Neoliberal Penality: Compliance or Resistance?” <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1065912920954537> in Political Research Quarterly   
Fred Dallmayr: Critical Phenomenology, Cross-cultural Theory, Cosmopolitanism  <https://www.routledge.com/Fred-Dallmayr-Critical-Phenomenology-Cross-cultural-Theory-Cosmopolitanism/Godrej/p/book/9781138955936>(Routledge, 2017)
Cosmopolitan Political Thought: Method, Practice, Discipline <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/cosmopolitan-political-thought-9780199782079?lang=en&cc=us> (Oxford University Press, 2011) 

Personal Zoom Room <https://ucr.zoom.us/j/5399165858> 

> On Dec 2, 2022, at 8:39 PM, Jennifer Merolla <merolla at ucr.edu> wrote:
> 
> Dear All,
> 
> I wanted to share with you our department's statement in solidarity with academic workers in our department and across the UC system (see attached statement). We are also sending this to the email address collecting statements/letters of support on the UC fair now website.
> 
> Best,
> Jenn
> <UCR Department of Political Science Statement on the Strike by Graduate Student Employees.pdf>_______________________________________________
> Poscgrad mailing list
> Poscgrad at lists.ucr.edu
> https://lists.ucr.edu/mailman/listinfo/poscgrad

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Council of UC Faculty Associations <newsletter at cucfa.org>
> Subject: Response to UC Provost Brown's letter
> Date: December 2, 2022 at 12:52:20 PM PST
> To: <godrej at ucr.edu>
> Reply-To: Council of UC Faculty Associations <newsletter at cucfa.org>
> 
> View this email in your browser <https://mailchi.mp/8d10bc50cca1/response-to-uc-provost-browns-letter?e=9c214e736a>
> 
> The Council of UC Faculty Associations <https://ucrfa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&id=b68569f638&e=9c214e736a>
> A Coordinating and Service Agency for the Faculty Associations of the University of California
>  
> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> On Thursday, December 1, Senate faculty received a  <https://ucrfa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&id=7c3e3620a9&e=9c214e736a>potentially misleading email <https://ucrfa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&id=c021413e85&e=9c214e736a>  <https://ucrfa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&id=f3ead59218&e=9c214e736a>from the President’s Office of the University of California, titled “Regarding Faculty Rights and Responsibilities,” and signed by Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Michael Brown.
> 
> This communication fails to distinguish between being on strike and declining to pick up struck labor. It is the case that the university may dock pay for any faculty on strike, although it is unclear precisely how they would enforce that policy. Faculty pay can only be docked for the period during which they choose to strike, not for the duration of the multi-unit strike itself. While a partial strike by faculty can be unprotected, it is unclear what mechanism of reporting or tracking the University is using to determine whether faculty are continuing to engage in non-instructional labor, such as their own research. Similarly, it is also not apparent what mechanism of reporting would be used to discipline those they believed have violated the Faculty Code of Conduct by engaging in the unprotected activity of a partial strike if they had continued non-instructional labor whether for university service or their own research.
> 
> The vast majority of faculty have not been on strike; they have continued to teach their classes and to support the strike in other ways. However, UC is now asking Senate faculty to take up the struck labor of their ASEs on strike. Struck labor would include returning grades for classes with ASEs where ASEs are responsible for grading and/or grade submission. Refusing to do this additional labor, for no further compensation, does not represent being on strike. Refusing to pick up the struck labor of ASE grading is not the same as a sympathy strike, and so the issue of “all or nothing,” or “whole” or “partial” striking is irrelevant. Faculty have the HEERA-protected right not to take up this struck labor <https://ucrfa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&id=b82a49cb1a&e=9c214e736a> if they choose not to do so. And their pay cannot be docked for not picking up struck labor. If you choose not to pick up the struck labor of ASE grading, please <https://ucrfa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&id=4d9a4aaf21&e=9c214e736a>register that here <https://ucrfa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&id=fc3600e72b&e=9c214e736a> in this anonymous tally.
> 
> Senate faculty are being told that if they do not pick up the struck work of ASE grading some undergraduate students will be harmed. We share the concern for students that depend on their grades to access financial aid, to earn scholarships, and who need their grades for other reasons. However, it is the university’s responsibility to make contingency plans that ensure these students are not impacted by the strike, and some campuses have already communicated to undergraduates that such plans are in place. They have the capacity, as they did during the pandemic, to be flexible about grades and deadlines.
> 
> We urge all Senate faculty to support the multi-unit strike by graduate students, postdocs and student researchers. Low paid work and uncompetitive wages damage the capacity of the university to deliver world class teaching and research. You have HEERA protected legal rights to go on strike, and yet it is critical not to confuse that with your right to refuse to take up the additional struck labor of grading.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Constance Penley, CUCFA President, Professor of Film and Media Studies UC Santa Barbara
> Wendy Matsumura, CUCFA Vice President, Associate Professor of History UC San Diego
> For the CUCFA Executive Board
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> If this has been forwarded to you and you are not already a member of your campus Faculty Association, this is a great time to join. Visit  https://cucfa.org/join/  <https://ucrfa.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&id=ad701946c0&e=9c214e736a>to learn how.  We are 100% member supported.
> 
> Our mailing address is:
> Council of UC Faculty Associations
> 1270 Farragut Circle
> Davis, CA 95618
> 
> 
> Want to change how you receive these emails?
> You can update your preferences <https://ucrfa.us7.list-manage.com/profile?u=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&id=e59fb08dbf&e=9c214e736a&c=9bb6349d3e> or unsubscribe from this list <https://ucrfa.us7.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&id=e59fb08dbf&e=9c214e736a&c=9bb6349d3e>.
> 
>  <http://www.mailchimp.com/email-referral/?utm_source=freemium_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=referral_marketing&aid=09ad3c84a389e9df513c0f81a&afl=1>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.ucr.edu/pipermail/poscgrad/attachments/20221203/c31d0120/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 408c1795-ab74-34ca-323a-c2a16dcab8bb.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 74157 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.ucr.edu/pipermail/poscgrad/attachments/20221203/c31d0120/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: grow-business-banner-2.png
Type: image/png
Size: 10868 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.ucr.edu/pipermail/poscgrad/attachments/20221203/c31d0120/attachment-0001.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: open.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.ucr.edu/pipermail/poscgrad/attachments/20221203/c31d0120/attachment-0001.gif>