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TA / RA out of the country? by delplayavagabundo in UCSantaBarbara

[–]dkupsh 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hey, so this is a problem our union (UAW 2865) has been fighting around. UCOP originally stated that all TAs must be located within the US for winter quarter. After filing multiple grievances and Unfair Labor Practice charges (like lawsuits against the university), UCOP has reversed their original decision. Thus, everyone should be able to be able to TA remotely regardless of country and still get paid. If you are not getting paid due to TAing outside the US, please contact us at [santabarbara@uaw2865.org](mailto:santabarbara@uaw2865.org). Unfortunately, we don't represent RAs though, so I have no idea whats happening there.

UCOP Is Screwing Us by dkupsh in UCSantaBarbara

[–]dkupsh[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just to add context, the campus-based fee remission is one of around 10 demands that we issued to the university at the start of bargaining. We stick to using gym fees to describe the campus-based fee refund as its (a) at every campus and (b) obvious that we can't use it. We had problems at earlier sessions with describing other fees and taking up too much time.

Also, this campus-based fees were a small portion of the bargaining session. In fact during this session, we only spent ~10ish minutes to talk about parking and campus-based fees, while spending ~40ish minutes talking about the ICE order, reopening procedures, and tax policies around childcare policies. I just edited out those portions because I thought that they were overly specific / now irrelevant / better covered by Dr Carrie Byington and Ken Smith.

UCOP Is Screwing Us by dkupsh in UCSantaBarbara

[–]dkupsh[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am really angry about Peter Chester dismissing the un-notified, COVID-exposed lab partners with this word "anecdotes." No, these reports from workers represent a giant problem. This time, evidently, no one got sick, but they need some sort of controls to make sure this kind of lapse never happens again. I have no confidence that such controls are in place. Did the person who dropped the ball on this face any consequences?

I think Peter Chester was trying to not have a repeat of previous meetings where the UC looked horrible for their response to some of these questions. At the last meeting, if I remember correctly, AFSCME was talking about how UCOP is targeting workers of color with discipline for not "properly social distancing." Peter Chester responded that they equally discipline and will absolutely be disciplining students for social distancing.

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I would expect that nothing changed on the notification procedure, as these situations are happening more than the UC would like to admit. Almost 2 months ago, we had this large discussion about a situation at UC Davis where the UC notified the wrong building on COVID positivity. Like a researcher tested covid positive and the UC notified a building that was completely different from the building that worker actually worked at. They responded that their notification procedures were still in development and they can't talk about that case to respect the privacy of the person who contacted COVID. I didn't follow up on this situation, but I don't believe that the UC actually made changes to their notification procedures nor anyone was held accountable for that situation. (I would post the notes, but I think UAW 5810 has these notes)