GSA fails to inform voters

Published: Tuesday, March 2, 1999

Tuesday, March 2, 1999

RIGHTS: Graduate students denied access to facts from both sides of union representation debate

By Adam Frankel

Let's clear the air of what some may perceive to be a stench on the UCLA campus, regarding the upcoming unionization election.

On March 9, 10 and 11 UCLA's teaching assistants (TAs), tutors and readers will have the opportunity to vote on whether or not they will be represented by a union, namely the United Auto Workers (UAW).

It seems clear that some members of both the Graduate Students Association (GSA) and the Student Association of Graduate Employees (SAGE) don't want graduate students to know both sides of the issue.

I should briefly clarify the roles of both GSA and SAGE. Over 60 years old, GSA is the graduate student government whose responsibilities include representing the educational interests of graduate and professional students here at UCLA.

SAGE, on the other hand, is concerned with securing collective bargaining rights for TAs, tutors and readers on campus - in brief, SAGE/UAW wants to represent TAs, tutors and readers as employees. It is unfortunate that the similar abbreviations for both GSA and SAGE often cause confusion for what they each represent.

The Math and Physical Sciences Council (MPSC) of GSA, which represents several departments on South Campus, chose to provide factual information on the upcoming election and to give students information from both sides of the issue, since this appears to be one of the most significant issues on campus. (Have you been asked recently if you are a TA?)

On Feb. 17, MPSC requested that the GSA provide this unbiased information regarding the upcoming election to the entire graduate student body, as well as access to the views of both sides of the issue. Regrettably, a majority of GSA forum delegates voted against informing the electorate in this way.

Resisting silence, MPSC has created a web page that presents information from the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) which is conducting the March election, a statement by SAGE and its contact information, and a letter from Chancellor Carnesale addressing this issue. MPSC urges you to investigate all sides of this issue since it is significant to the future of all graduate students!

This information is available at http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~chris/mpsc/union.html.

As a GSA representative in the department of chemistry and biochemistry, I believe that we are all students here primarily for an education, regardless of what title one may have within a department.

I see no benefit in turning the UCLA administration into our adversary by introducing a third party into the mix. Less antagonistic avenues have not been explored to ease the burden of being a graduate student with hefty responsibilities.

By refusing to inform the graduate student electorate about this important election, GSA has failed in its duty to serve the interests of UCLA's graduate students. These students are often too busy to devote much time to issues which have great bearing on them.

Isn't it the role of our representatives to steer us toward an informed decision? Whatever your opinion may be, our (the members of the MPSC's) hope is that you vote informed!

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