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

Mon Dec 5 18:14:21 PST 2022

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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> 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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