|
|
|
The views expressed on this page are
solely
those of the author and do not
necessarily represent the views of County
News Online
|
|
martinedoucet/E+ via Getty Images
Education Dive
Colleges met with strikes, collective action over fall reopening plans
Natalie Schwartz
Sept. 8, 2020
Dive Brief:
Several colleges' decisions to offer campus-based instruction are the
subject of strikes or legal pushback as coronavirus cases mount in the
U.S.
That includes the University of Iowa, where some on campus are urging
the administration to move entirely to virtual education, and the
University of Michigan, where graduate students are demanding more
flexibility during the pandemic.
Experts say strikes are more likely on campuses where administrators
don't consult with faculty members before making decisions or forge
agreements with their unions about pandemic-related concerns.
Dive Insight:
U of Michigan graduate student instructors and staff assistants are
striking this week to protest the university's response to the pandemic
and policing on campus. They're making several demands of
administrators, including that they increase coronavirus testing, allow
graduate employees to switch from in-person to remote work, and cut
ties with the local police and federal immigration authorities.
The U of Michigan is offering several class formats this fall and
wrapping up all in-person instruction before Thanksgiving break. The
school is also instructing faculty and staff to continue working
remotely unless their department chair or unit leader tells them to
return to campus.
In response to the strike, university officials posted a statement to
Twitter on Monday noting that the graduate student union's contract
prohibits its members from participating in actions that interfere with
the university's operations and that the state bans public employees
from striking.
The union "has raised a number of issues that cannot be resolved as a
matter of their contract or through a collective bargaining procedure,"
the statement reads. "The university is preparing to continue
operations, including classes, in the event of a strike."
When reached for comment, a university spokesperson directed Education
Dive to an online post dated Sept. 7 saying it has granted the requests
of all graduate student instructors who have asked to work remotely. It
also details the university's coronavirus testing plans.
The strike has been scheduled to last until Friday, though the union could extend it if its demands aren't met, MLive reported.
They aren't the only higher ed group to stop work in protest. Some 700
students, staff and faculty at the U of Iowa pledged to call in sick
last Wednesday, according to a local media report.
The event's organizers, which are calling it a "sickout," demand the
university switch to entirely online instruction. As of Friday, the
university had 1,569 positive coronavirus cases self-reported from
students and 20 from employees, according to its dashboard. It also had
more than 100 students living in residence halls either in quarantine
or in self-isolation.
"Behind each number is a staff member with no other option but to risk
their life cleaning dorms, a professor trying to manage safety in an
overcrowded classroom, a freshman with asthma, afraid to speak up when
their professor comes too close," the sickout's organizers wrote in an
op-ed on Tuesday for the Iowa City Press-Citizen.
Some worker groups are taking legal action. The University of Akron's
faculty union is hoping to reinstate roughly 72 employees through an
arbitration case. Meanwhile, employees at the University of North
Carolina are suing the system, arguing that they face unsafe working
conditions.
College leaders can prevent strikes and other types of collective
action by consulting faculty members before making decisions, experts
said.
"One of the things many faculty are worried about is a lack of
transparency," said Timothy Cain, a higher education professor at the
University of Georgia. "We've seen decisions being made ... without
fully communicating what the decisions are being based on and without
having a shared process to determining what is the best course of
action."
Other colleges are forging agreements with their unions over
pandemic-related concerns, such as whether essential workers will
receive hazard pay and personal protective equipment.
The National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher
Education and the Professions at Hunter College, in New York, has
identified dozens of these types of agreements. "There are many
institutions … that understand their obligations to negotiate and are
working with the unions to develop plans and develop responses that are
satisfactory," said William Herbert, the center's executive director.
The University of Florida reached an agreement with its graduate union
to prevent terminations or negative performance reviews of graduate
employees whose academic progress suffered because of the pandemic.
California State University likewise hashed out an agreement with its
faculty association to address coronavirus-related concerns.
|
|
|
|
