YALE T.A. STRIKE (x-post from H-women) (fwd)

["Bryan A. Alexander" <bnalexan@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sorry if this is a repeat.  Post away!



Bryan Alexander
Department of English
University of Michigan
**********************

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996 10:21:09 -0500 (EST)
From: DERITTERJ1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: gemcs-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: YALE T.A. STRIKE (x-post from H-women)

From:   IN%"H-WOMEN@xxxxxxx"  "H-NET List for Women's History" 11-JAN-1996 
16:30:50.35
To:     IN%"H-WOMEN@xxxxxxx"  "Multiple recipients of list H-WOMEN"
CC:     
Subj:   Update on Yale Grad. Student Strike

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Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996 15:03:15 -0600
From: Kriste Lindenmeyer <KAL6444@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Update on Yale Grad. Student Strike
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From:   IN%"taglia@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"  "Kathryn Taglia"  9-JAN-1996 05:01:58.77
Some may think this inappropriate for the list, but my blue-collar union
heritage and fairly recent experience as a graduate student lead me to post it
anyway.  The strike and effort to unionize graduate assistants at Yale is
something, it seems to me, that has an important impact on the entire academic
community. The fact that the three students who are targets of the university's
disciplinary action are women, seems to make the issue relevant to H-WOMEN
subscribers.

Kriste Lindenmeyer
co-editor H-WOMEN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ----
I thought this would be of interested to members of the list.

Kathryn Taglia
University of Northern British Columbia

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 18:28:14 -0500 (EST)
From: sylvia anne federico <sfederic@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: medfem-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: ENGLGRAD: Yale Situation Update (fwd)

Dear Medfem subscribers,

Because the issue of graduate student teachers affects so many of us, and
because disciplinary action is about to be taken against three women at
Yale for participating in a strike, I thought I'd pass along this very
long message (which includes loads of background info) with apologies to
those who find it an inappropriate use of our list.

Sylvia Federico
Indiana University, English

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 15:48:33 -0500 (EST)
From: mrippy <mrippy@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: englgrad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: ENGLGRAD: Yale Situation Update (fwd)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon Jan 8 11:20:25 PST 1996
From: nagps@xxxxxxxxxx
To: nagps-official@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Yale Situation Update

Dear NAGPS Members:

Thanks to our friends at the Canadian Graduate Council for forwarding
this information to us from the parent of one of the Yale TAs who is at
the center of all that is going on at Yale.

Kevin Boyer
NAGPS Executive Director
#####################################

Dear Everyone

I am going to the US tomorrow to be present at, and speak at, this demo.
My daughter, Diana Paton, is one of the three women who has been charged
and is having disciplinary proceedings taken against her.  The 'trial' by
kangaroo court takes place on Wednesday and it would really help if you
could ALL email or fax the President of Yale, Richard Levin, by then
protesting at Yale's  actions.
Richard Levin's email address is <richard.levin@xxxxxxxx>, his fax number is
 +1 203-432-7105, or he can be phoned at +1 203-432-2550.  Please send
copies of anything you send to Levin to Gordon Lafer so that GESO knows you
have done so.  His email address is <Glafer@xxxxxxx>.

It seems like there is no due process, no question of 'innocent until
proved guilty'.  The ONLY thing that will make a difference, it seems, is
for Yale to be so embarrassed in front of the academic world that they take
a step back from victimizing these three women, and, perhaps, even sit down
and talk to GESO.  For those of you who are not familiar with the story so
far, I'm pasting in (at the end) a previous letter which does give those
details.  PLEASE spread this as far and wide as you can to academic
colleagues around the world.  The number of academics writing in with
support for GESO is important.  If you know anyone who is world famous,
please ask them to write too.

Thanks

Debbie

>Date: Sat, 6 Jan 1996 21:27:13 -0500

>Subject: YALE TRIALS/DEMONSTRATION WED JAN 10
>
>Dear Friends:
>
> I'm writing to let you know about recent developments in the Yale TA strike,
>and most of all to ask anyone who can to come join us this coming Wednesday,
>January 10, in a mass demonstration against the blacklisting of strike
>participants.
> As you may have heard, Yale has singled out three women who are elected
>union leaders and brought them up on disciplinary charges for withholding
>their grades.  Their "trials" will take place this Wednesday, and we are
>expecting up to 1,000 members of GESO and Yale's two other unions to join in
>a protest in front of the building where the hearings are being held.  Part
>of this group will be engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience as part of
>the demonstration.  Obviously, the participation of faculty and students from
>other schools adds a dimension to this protest which we can't do on our own
>-- both for the morale of the strikers and for letting Yale administrators
>know how the outside academic world views what's going on here.
> The situation here has become even more urgent in the past 24 hours.
> Yesterday, Yale President Richard Levin sent a letter to TA's who teach
>their own courses, informing them that anyone who does not turn in grades by
>Tuesday will be banned from teaching in the spring semester.  This is a
>serious threat -- in the worst case, for people who have no other means of
>support, or for foreign students whose visas prohibit them from working
>outside the university, being blacklisted from teaching jobs may make it
>impossible to continue in graduate school.  We are committed to continuing
>the strike, and believe that it will ultimately prove impossible for Yale to
>lock out all its striking TA's.  But these threats adds additional meaning to
> Wednesday's demonstration -- it will be the first day past the new deadline,
>and all the more important for us to stand up in strength.
> The broader academic community has a critical role to play in determining
>the outcome of this struggle.  There are already a significant number of
>faculty members from other universities, as well as TA's and undergraduate
>students, who have pledged to participate in civil disobedience Wednesday.
> If you can come to New Haven -- whether for civil disobedience or just to
>participate in the demonstration -- please e-mail this account, or call the
>union office at 203-624-5161.  We will be happy to pick people up from the
>train station and arrange for people to stay overnight if needed.
>
>Here's some more detailed information on the "trials:"
>
> The three people being charged have been selected out of the over 200 TA's
>participating in the strike.  We have repeatedly requested that the
>administration explain why these three (all elected union leaders and all
>women, including two women of color and two foreign students) were chosen,
>but the administration has refused.  The official charges leveled against
>them are somewhat vague.  For instance, the first charge they face is
>"failure to adhere to a code of conduct that respects the values and
>integrity of the academic community."  However, when we asked exactly what
>code this charge refers to, the administration refused to respond.  It seems
>clear that no such written code exists; in this case, the charge is an
>invitation for the Disciplinary Committee to make up rules as it goes along,
>and to find people guilty of violating standards which are defined on the
>spot.  In all cases, written requests for a detailed explanation of the
>charges have been refused.
> The hearings process itself is also troubling.  The Disciplinary Committee
>is appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School, and includes four Associate
>Deans among its members -- Yale insists that there is no conflict of interest
>in having these four administrators try a case brought by their supervisor.
> This Committee may interview witnesses outside the TA's presence, and there
>is no right of cross-examination.  Finally, while the TA's are allowed to
>have a lawyer present, their lawyer is not allowed to speak.  At the end of
>these hearings, the Committee can impose any penalty up to and including
>expulsion.  There is no process for appeal.
>  We are preparing a thorough case in defense, and have received help from a
>number of law faculty.  However, we're under no illusions as to the openness
>of the process or the likelihood that we will win the hearts and minds of
>this Committee.  If Yale administrators are to back off from the use of
>academic reprisals against strike participants, it will be because of the
>condemnation of outside academics (and the strength of the strikers) rather
>than the cleverness of our legal arguments.  Please do everything possible to
>come to New Haven on Wednesday.
> Thanks so much for your support --
> Gordon Lafer, Research Director, Federation of University Employees at Yale
>

_______________________________________________

Previous letter (you may not need to read this)
the story so far.
For the last approximately 5 years graduate students/Teaching Assistants at
Yale have been organising themselves as the Graduate Student Employee's
Organisation (GESO).  They are asking the university admin to recognise
them as a negotiating body on on pay and conditions of their work with
respect to the teaching of undergraduates which they do for the university.
As you know, American universities, including Yale, are entirely dependent
on graduate students' work as Teaching Assistants to carry out all the
seminar work, tutorials, setting and marking of course work and other
grading with undergraduate students.  However, they receive little support
and training in how to teach and are paid considerably less than the
university itself claims is a living wage for an academic year in New
Haven.  The admin has consistently refused to meet with GESO or to
recognise them as a negotiating body despite the fact that a referendum of
grad students voted substantially in favour of having GESO represent them.
Last year they circulated a petition asking academics to support their
claims for recognition.  Earlier this semester, one of their active members
received a reference for a job which contained a paragraph referring to her
GESO activities, in which it was said that she was a trouble maker.  As a
result a petition against victimisation of GESO members and activists was
circulated and handed in earlier this month.  GESO's account of events
since then is below.



>Subject: PROTEST BLACKLISTING AT YALE (fwd) Mime-Version: 1.0
>
>PLEASE POST THIS WIDE AND FAR
>
>Date: Tue, 12 Dec 1995 13:46:44 -0500 From: Glafer@xxxxxxx
>
>EMERGENCY: BLACKLISTING AT YALE
>
>Dear Friends,
>
>   I am writing to thank you for signing on to the petition in support of
>academic freedom at Yale, and to update you on the situation here. To cut
>to the punch line: the union is holding strong, but we are being met with
>an increasing array of threats from administrators and some senior faculty
>members. In the past week, graduate teachers have been told that they will
>not get letters of recommendation if they strike, that they will not be
>allowed to register for the spring semester, that they will be placed on
>probation, that all strikers will have letters of discipline placed in
>their academic files, that foreign students may be forced to leave the
>country, and that anyone who strikes will be barred from future teaching
>jobs. The chair of a major department told graduate teachers that the
>administration had announced they would expel anyone who participates in a
>strike. In several cases, faculty members have called TAs to say "I will
>back every step the administration takes to expel all of you."
>
>   All of these threats have been oral. Some have been made in the name of
>administration and some by individual faculty members. It seems likely
>that the central administration is telling faculty members that they are
>responsible for disciplining their graduate students, and faculty are
>feeling a lot of pressure to conform.
>
>   Union members are holding strong in the face of all this, but there is
>a lot of fear. So far, the central administration has remained
>dramatically silent on the issue, letting threats be issued through
>departmental offices, making no threats in writing, but also refusing all
>requests to issue a statement guaranteeing that union activity can't be
>used as a criteria for academic evaluation. There is a climate of fear
>that we are fighting back, and so far more or less successfully, but
>obviously people are scared, and it is critical that we show
>administrators that these kinds of tactics are not acceptable in the
>broader academic community.
>
>   We are holding an emergency rally this coming Thursday, December 14, at
>12:00 noon at the Hall of Graduate Studies, on the corner of York and Wall
>Streets in New Haven. I know that many of you have expressed your desire
>to come to New Haven to show support for the right of TA's to organize.
>This is the time. I realize this is last-minute notice, but we are asking
>that anyone who can reschedule their commitments and come to New Haven on
>Thursday please join us in protesting the use of academic blacklisting as
>a union-busting tactic.
>
>   If you think you can make it and need directions, or need a place to
>stay overnight, call the union office at 624-5161. There are trains which
>run from Grand Central Station in New York and take 2 hours to New Haven.
>Train timetable information is 1-800-638-7646.
>
>   If you cannot come to New Haven, we would appreciate your sending a
>message to Yale President Richard Levin, stating your support for the
>right to organize without academic recrimination and reiterating the need
>for Yale not to issue a clear policy on this. President Levin can be faxed
>at 203-432-7105, or phoned at 432-2550, or e-mailed at
>richard.levin@xxxxxxxxx
>If you can send a message, we would appreciate you're forwarding copies of
>your letter to our office (fax 203-776-6438) and to the Yale Daily News,
>fax 203-432-7425.
>
>   Your support on the petition was crucial in getting us this far and in
>letting people know who are participating in the union drive that they
>have support from academics across the country. Your help is crucial now
>in making sure that universities can't use the crudest of union-busting
>tactics to deny academics the right to organize.
>
>   Here's a little more background on what's been going on here.
>
>   The petition you all signed was presented to the Administration on
>Tuesday, December 5. On that day we held a press conference in which two
>grad students went public with their stories: one of them had been refused
>a letter of recommendation because he participated in a TA strike, and the
>other received a letter which included a paragraph of negative comments on
>her union activities. Our press conference included participants from the
>Yale faculty, other Yale unions, the American Association of University
>Professors, and Ellen Schrecker, whose No Ivory Tower is the landmark
>study of McCarthysim in the academy. The central thrust of the press
>conference was not to focus on the particular individual cases, but to
>call on the administration to establish a policy prohibiting blacklisting.
>
>
>   Unfortunately, the university refuses to issue such a policy. The day
>after our press conference, the two faculty members in question -- the
>current and former Dean of Yale College -- both defended their actions in
>print. "I told him that [striking] was his right," explained former Dean
>Donald Kagan, "but that if he didn't meet his classroom responsibilities I
>would advise him to think twice about asking me for a recommendation."
>Similarly, current Dean Richard Brodhead defended the insertion of
>negative comments in the letter of a union member who participated in a
>letter-writing campaign informing alumni of union concerns. Brodhead
>claimed that this wasn't really blacklisting, since it focused on the
>student's "bad judgement" in union activities rather than her union
>membership per se. "A circumstance might arise where someone might have
>performed an action at the outer limits in which might have raised
>questions about that person's judgement," he told the Yale Daily News. "If
>you are writing a letter of recommendation, your letter wouldn't be
>truthful if your letter did no mention such things."
>
>   The administration has refused to say that what Kagan and Brodhead did
>is a violation of Yale policy. Three days after the press conference,
>Graduate School Dean Tom Appelquist issued a letter stating that "there is
>no need for the sort of statement that you have requested. .... Graduate
>students are free to express whatever political sympathies they may
>choose, and there should be no 'academic retribution' against graduate
>students on account of their participation in GESO activities. However, if
>a student elects not to meet his or her academic responsibilities for
>whatever reason, whether or not out of political convictions, he or she
>naturally will be accountable for the consequences." With this vague
>statement, it is now the effective policy at Yale that strike
>participation and other union activities are a legitimate reason for
>withholding letters of recommendation.
>
>   Threats of academic blacklisting have escalated since last Thursday,
>after the TA union membership here voted to undertake a grade strike,
>meaning that fall semester grades will be withheld if the university
>refuses to begin good-faith negotiations. In response to this vote, all
>manner of threats have been issued, and the central administration has
>cultivated a climate of fear by remaining noticeably silent on the issue.
>Faculty members are under heavy pressure from the administration, and with
>no policy prohibiting any kind of union-related retaliation, some are
>responding with a wide range of threats. One senior professor told his TA
>that if she struck, she wouldn't get a letter of recommendation, she'd be
>banned from teaching next semester, and she'd be expelled. Another called
>her TA's to demand that they turn in mid-term grades within 24 hours, or
>have disciplinary letters in their files.
>The chair of the Art History department asked all faculty to tell TAs that
>they would be denied the jobs they have been promised next semester if
>they participated in this semester's grade strike. Several union members
>have been told that they will not get letters of recommendation if they
>participate in the strike. And a number of faculty have stated that the
>Deans will put disciplinary letters in all strikers files, or ban them
>from teaching, or expel them.
>
>   The fact is that most of these threats cannot be carried out. In fact,
>faculty are neither responsible for nor authorized to carry out discipline
>of graduate teachers. Under Yale's written policy, only the central
>administration can discipline students, and then only with written
>charges, formal hearings, etc. To selectively punish leaders of the union
>is illegal.
>To do any of these things, in fact, is a violation of federal labor law,
>though it might take several years for such a case to work its way through
>the courts. Despite this knowledge, however, it is obviously intimidating
>for individual TA's faced with such vague threats.
>
>   So far, the vast majority of TA's remain committed to the strike and
>the right to negotiate, and there is a lot of bitterness and anger over
>these threats. But continued support from academics on other campuses
>remains a critical factor in our ability to resist such heavy-handed
>anti-unionism.
>
>   Please come to New Haven Thursday if at all possible. Otherwise, please
>contact President Levin and cc us and the Yale paper. We will keep you
>updated on developments here, and please feel free to call us or to e-mail
>this account at any time with questions or comments.
>
>   Again -- thanks so much for your support. It means a tremendous amount
>to people here.
>
>   Sincerely,
>
>   Gordon Lafer, Research Director
>   Federation of University Employees at Yale

***************************************************
Dr Debbie Epstein
Culture Communication and Societies
Centre for Research and Education on Gender
Institute of Education
20 Bedford Way
London
WC1H 0AL

 Phone:  +44 (0171) 612 6332
 Fax:    +44 (0171) 612 6177
[omit 0 when calling from outside the UK]

Email:  d.epstein@xxxxxxxxx

****************************************************

--
rramji@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx     university of ottawa
"with each breath, we are brought closer to death."  r.r.


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