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

Mon Dec 5 20:54:30 PST 2022

Thanks, Catherine. I will circulate this to the faculty tomorrow to ask for
a vote.

Best,
Jenn

On Mon, Dec 5, 2022 at 6:14 PM Catherine Wright <cwrig032 at ucr.edu> wrote:

> Thank you, Farah, and Jenn for sharing these important statements of
> solidarity.
>
> The union is currently seeking Department signatories for a letter
> rejecting Kathryn Uhrich's statement to CNAS faculty to call the police on
> striking students. I am attaching it here for your review.
>
> Best wishes,
> Catherine
>
> On Sat, Dec 3, 2022 at 4:40 PM Farah Godrej <godrej at ucr.edu> wrote:
>
>> 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>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 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
>>
>>
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>
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