The Facts about the Chancellor’s FAQ

October 4, 2011

Fellow graduate assistants,
Today you received an email from Chancellor Cheng releasing her employee FAQ. This FAQ included questions specifically for graduate assistants surrounding pay, tuition waivers, and health insurance.

While there is no such thing as a risk-free strike, GAU wants to reassure our members. Her FAQ answers were deliberately vague so as to intimidate graduate assistants into not honoring a strike if a strike is called. GAU, and the leaders of the other campus unions engaged in bargaining, realized something like this would be released by the administration. This is why we prepared our own frequently asked questions well in advance:

http://siucunions.wordpress.com/strike-faqs/

However, we wish to address two of your specific concerns:

Docking stipends:
The university does have the right to dock pay for any hours they can prove you did not work but only those hours you did not work. For example, if you withhold your labor and walk the picket lines during one hour that you were scheduled to teach a class, the university may dock you for one hour of pay. The burden of proof is on the administration to show that you missed work or class.

Further, the university CANNOT unilaterally dock an entire month’s stipend, as the Chancellor’s FAQ seems to suggest.

Part of what happens as a strike ends is a bargaining proposal entitled “Back to Work Agreement” or “Strike Settlement Agreement.” This proposal would address all strike issues affecting your wages, hours or terms and conditions of employment — including addressing docked pay or make-up days for graduate assistants.

Removal of tuition waivers:
The tuition waiver you received when you accepted your GA appointment are provided as a scholarship to graduate assistants, not as part of your pay as the Chancellor suggested. According to our contract, if you are a graduate assistant and maintain eligibility to be a graduate assistant, you have a full tuition scholarship. A strike will not affect your status as a graduate assistant!

Also, keep in mind that the Chancellor was very careful in her language, using words such as “may,” “possibly,” “could,” and “can.” By doing so, the Chancellor has not committed the University to any particular course of action while still making you afraid. Once again, we see that the Chancellor is not averse to using fear and intimidation to get what they want. First, they engaged in illegal surveillance of employees and only stopped it when threatened with legal action. Now, the casual disregard for our livelihoods, and vague threats.

GAU has been and will continue to work for what you want: lower fees and better health care. These intimidation tactics are in response to our growing numbers. Now is the time to join GAU. Now is the time to get involved. Working together we will achieve our goal: a fair, equitable contract that benefits us all.

In solidarity,
Kristi Brownfield
Vice-President for Communications