Arlene Banuelos / The Triton
The UC San Diego Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) movement voted to go on a grading strike next Monday during the COLA Walkout and General Assembly on March 5. 86 out of the 92 undergraduate student workers and graduate students who attended voted in favor of the grade strike.
Under a grading strike, Teaching Assistants (TAs) will not submit grades for Winter Quarter. All assignment grades and final grades will be withheld and left blank, with no visible effect on students’ GPA. In initiating this grading strike, UCSD will join graduate students in UC Santa Cruz (UCSC), UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) and UC Davis in pushing for wage increases. UCSC and UCSB are in a full worker stoppage, while graduate students at UC Davis are currently withholding grades.
“We believe a grading strike starting Monday is the best option for us to take here,” said Muhammad Yousuf, second-year PhD student and COLA organizer, before the vote took place. “If the university refuses to give in by next quarter, we will escalate to a wildcat [strike].”
COLA organizers emphasized that while TAs will not be reporting grades during the strike, exceptions will be made for undergraduate students who require a grade for financial aid, immigration, or residency purposes.
“The last thing we need to do is harm your livelihoods and your education here at the university,” said Yousuf, directly addressing undergraduate students at the General Assembly whose grades would be affected by the strike. “Simply your grades, which is the product of teaching labor, will be withheld.”
Julianna Domingo is a Staff Writer for The Triton.
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@sebybonilla Pretty sure that's Seb in the back with a one fingered salute and a copy of MLK's " I Hav… https://t.co/0IpK3jb8I9
This is selfish. They knew the cost of living in the area, and the union negotiated pay agreement before they enrolled. Instead of trying to work with their union they pull a stunt that throws undergrads under the bus.
The contract was decided a few years ago. And many graduate students did not approve of it because the union bent over to the UC. We received like a 2% wage increase, while the univ raised the rent of on campus housing and student fees by more than 2%, not to mention the skyrocketing rental market in the county. If wanting to be able to afford rent and pay for utilities, groceries, and other basic necessities is "selfish," then I don't know what to tell you. We're all greedy, lazy people who want to get rich from our PhD programs... Christ, use your fcking brains
You knew all of this before you enrolled. You weren't forced to come here, sidestep the union, or use tactics that punish undergrads instead of the university.
I don't think any of you are out to get rich, but you do have a completely unrealistic view of what your wages should be. Dividing your average salary by 20 hours a week means you're making ~ $30 an hour plus benefits and waived tuition. That's an excellent wage for the work you put in. The problem is you're expecting to make a living from working a part time job, and it's never going to happen.
Fire them all. Who needs them? They're asking for a ridiculous wage increase. When I first heard what they were asking for, compared to what they were already making, I thought it was a joke. 90% of the world makes way less for working 10x harder.
I don't think it's fair to say they don't work hard, but the compensation they want is unreasonable. If you break it down by their twenty hours a week then they're making around $30 an hour plus benefits. They're going to be in for a rude awakening once they enter the workforce.
Most TA's dont even work close to 10 hours a week, at least in the bio department. The work they do is identical to the work done by undergrad TA's, yet undergrads make half as much per hour and don't get their tuition waived. And the grad students want even more pay, how do they expect a part time job to cover all their living expenses?
I think a lot of them are missing the forest for the trees. They're concerned about grad school wages, but are seemingly ignoring the awful job market in academia that they get to look forward to.