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bigballbuffalo t1_iwcthcn wrote

I went to UC Berkeley (the pic in the thumbnail). Graduate student instructors make that school run and were absolutely invaluable to my learning experience, often much more so than the actual professors. Without them, many classes would come to a screeching halt. Glad they’re standing up for themselves and fighting for what they deserve!

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SilverNicktail t1_iwdjq2y wrote

A lot of people see the post-pandemic worker strikes and reinvigorated worker movement as chaotic and problematic. I see it as both inevitable and utterly necessary.

Go get 'em!

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KonaKathie t1_iwebc0c wrote

Does anyone else find it super weird that they're in the UAW? United Auto Workers???

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Mexibruin t1_iwfbehc wrote

Not necessarily. Fledgling unions often look for support from older, established unions when they form up. Typically, something somewhat related. So yeah, not a lot of similarity between teachers and factory workers. But, I can't imagine there is an existing union that would fit the bill.

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TheNextBattalion t1_iwfmeh5 wrote

Yep. When I was in grad school my union was part of the UAW umbrella. They were super helpful, especially since grad students don't stick around long enough to build the long-term organizing skills

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[deleted] t1_iwcvu2z wrote

yep might seem counterintuitive for some

but squeezing people doesn't make them more productive

especially when smart people need to think freely and in best way beyond daily survival and monetary gain goals

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Mexibruin t1_iwfbg38 wrote

I went to UCLA about 25 years ago. And the issues they are striking against were a problem then.

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greenmeensgo60 t1_iwe3sbc wrote

I'm proud of those, anyone who demands higher education in these United States.

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guzzonculous t1_iwfddx0 wrote

Raise their wages, then raise their tuition the same amount. Problem solved.

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ladeedah1988 t1_iwefw39 wrote

TA's are students and being a TA is part of the learning experience. What do you bring to the table? You are not an experienced lecturer or even have any real experience in your career field. Sorry, being a TA is a privilege and you grow from the experience. It allows you to go to grad school without any debt.

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DianneQuinn t1_iwegy33 wrote

Weird how such useless worker bees are bringing academia to a halt with their absence. Almost like they are necessary. I agree though, fuck them for demanding fair wages, amirite?!?! They think they're PEOPLE ffs. The audacity.

/S (obviously)

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ladeedah1988 t1_iwekj6u wrote

The point is they are learning from the experience just as much and more than they are giving any student.

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Moughal t1_iwfjmlq wrote

Im going to assume you are ignorant and not malicious. There are TA's and student teachers which are phd students. Yes, they are "students", but they typically only teach after they have completed their oral examination and achieved an A.B.D. (All but dissertation) status. In the humanities the oral exam is to read hundreds of books in your main field and two sub fields and have 3 different tenured professors grill you for hours about all three different topics. The people who pass these exams are no longer mere "students". A TA just grades papers. A phd student who is teaching a class actually can compose a curriculum and make the lesson plans for an entire semester. This takes hundreds of hours of work. Tenured professors may not share lesson plans, or really be involved at all, so you do things from scratch. Effectively they are professors and they are teaching classes on their own.

Why would phd students do this when they are on the clock for time to degree and completing their dissertation? Often they have to make ends meet because phd stipends are laughable. Make money on the side you say? Nope, if you do, and the university finds out, they dock your stipend to match. So you have to live in NYC on $31k for seven years, with shit healthcare, and little to no dental or other care, which is basically impossible. Something has to give, and its usually the student's own health. Also, all of this while navigating the machiavellian clusterfuck that is academia just because you want to be a teacher and contribute to the next generation.

Source: My wife is a phd student and the shit they have to endure is insane. Watching from the sidelines is very frustrating, and I hope the modern academic system gets an overhaul soon.

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ladeedah1988 t1_iwg36ca wrote

I did get my Ph.D. and lived on the stipend and TAing until I received an RA position. Yes, there were even years when a professor took pity on me and bought me a winter coat. I know full well what it means to be a graduate student and I will tell you that it means less than you think out in the real world. The only ones I do feel for are the post-docs who deserve more.

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huggiebigs t1_iwg4ogp wrote

Sorry to read that you had to endure that and were treated so poorly. But that does not mean the ones out there doing it currently should have to do the same

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Moughal t1_iwg7ewm wrote

Honestly, a plot twist I didnt see coming 😆. Can I ask if you are 50+? From what I can tell things have changed and people from 50-80 who got their Phd seemed to be in a very different environment. Im not saying it was easier during, but after it seems like there were just more direct opportunities if you put in the time. Where as its pretty bleak if you want to try to teach.

I am sure it is probably not respected, but I do given how much I know people went through to achieve it. So respect to you for completing it! Its really no easy feat.

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FFZombie t1_iwesyid wrote

Fuck this 'can't pay a you a living wage because you're inexperienced' bullshit.

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DeadFIL t1_iweiabu wrote

I disagree with most of what your saying. UC TAs are almost always graduate students with degrees in their field and have successfully passed the course they TA with a decent grade (I think a minimum of a B was required, but I forget). That is specialized training and they should be paid as such.

That said, they make bank already. I was being paid over $350 hours per week for 10 hours of work to TA. And that 10 hours is no joke, either, you can pretty much just walk out of the room halfway through teaching a lesson if you hit your weekly hours and the union will have your back. I personally never got close to doing the full 10 outside of midterms and finals when we had lots of tests to grade. Also, they pay for all of your tuition and fees , valued at around $600 per week when I was there a couple of years ago. For anyone not following the math, that's a $95/hour compensation package; far better than almost any of these people will make after getting their degree.

The problem is that you can only get 10 or 20 hour/week positions, so you can't go at it full time (I'd still be there if you could lmao). But still, I always felt like I was making out like a bandit. I can eat, pay rent, smoke weed, have honbies, and go to class; all that comes from 10 hours a week of going over homework problems with undergrads. I was always shocked that people wanted to strike when I felt like I was living like a king. If they can squeeze the UC system for even more than more power too them, I guess (though you gotta wonder how many will then turn around and complain that the UC system is too expensive).

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kewpiebara t1_iwgyc8s wrote

If you were at my university, you’d have $200-400 per month at that salary left for living expenses lol

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DeadFIL t1_iwh1s5u wrote

I went to the UC with the highest housing prices, at least at the time.

For a 25% TAship (10 hours per week), you're under the threshold for SNAP, so you don't need to pay for food.

I was making roughly $1400/month, and had around $600/month leftover after living expenses. That's sharing a room in a mediocre apartment. If you had your own room, then your $200-400 is probably close, but what you mean "left for living expenses"? That's after living expenses (rent, utilities, food). How would you have $200-400 before expenses? Where did the other $1000 go that you don't consider living expenses?

To me, the fact that I could work just 10 hours per week and pay my living expenses, let alone have a few hundred bucks afterwards, was great. I mean, how many people do you know who make enough that they could drop to 1/4 of full time and still pay rent? Particularly since I had just finished undergrad at the same school, where I worked 20+ hours per week and still needed to take out loans for housing (in addition to taking out loans for tuition), I was living on cloud 9 in grad school. Tuition was paid for, living expenses were paid for, I had a little money for fun, and I was able to chip away at my loans.

Again, if they get more money then good for them; I just never really got the complaints. That was undoubtedly the most I've ever been paid for unit of effort. But hey, most of these grad students are making more per hour now than they ever will again, so might as well get it while the getting is good 👍

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kewpiebara t1_iwhpgui wrote

By living expenses I meant other than rent and utilities, my bad. Like food, medicine, and transportation or repairs to your bike. So I meant $200-400 left to spend on things other than rent. You still do 30 hours per week or more for working as a researcher on top of a TA-ship. Your experience doesn’t capture everybody else’s.

A few hundred bucks is not much cushion for emergencies, yearly rent increase, or inflation.

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DeadFIL t1_iwhsmbr wrote

>You still do 30 hours per week or more for working as a researcher on top of a TA-ship.

At my school (probably through the whole UC system, but I don't know about the other UCs), a GSR (graduate student researcher) is paid at the same rate, ~$35/hr, as a TA. I don't believe you can be both at once, though I'm not certain about that. If you're doing research unrelated to a GSR then it would be your own research towards your thesis or dissertation, so literally school work.

Sure, my experience doesn't capture everybody else's, but it does a pretty damn good job of capturing that of other students who had a TA or GSR position because I've worked in both of those positions within the last two years at the UC with the worst housing market.

My big issue here is that half the grad students get (in my opinion) an excellent funding package while the other half gets (objectively) jackshit. If you're lucky and get a funded position like a TAship or GSRship, you're on easy street (relatively speaking). If you're unlucky and you can't get such a position, not only will you be unable to find a job that pays nearly the hourly rate TAs make, you'll also have to pay for your own tuition and fees (which are covered for TAs/GSRs/GSIs and cost $6000+ per 10 week quarter otherwise).

Instead of making the schools affordable for the students, they've just been constantly upping the compensation for the subset of the students that have funded positions. They could build more affordable on-campus housing or reduce tuition for all grad students or just generally make any attempt at making the process affordable, rather than jacking up the price of everything and then giving some students the ability to pay for it.

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kewpiebara t1_iwhr5li wrote

Also, please talk to many other grad students— I know too many people with rent burden or living paycheck to paycheck while putting in long hours of effort. No payment adjustment with inflation. My parents are aging. My health is taking a hit from stress. The future is getting bleak and we also need to establish decent pay for every single grad worker before it inflation takes us out.

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