Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

UC Santa Cruz fires 54 grad students who were striking for higher pay

edition.cnn.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 445 posts

Re: UC Santa Cruz fires 54 grad students who were striking for higher pay

#121

Post by refurb »

hedora wrote: post #8

Hopefully the strike will now spread to other UC campuses. The back story here is that United Auto Workers (the UC grad students’ union) negotiated an unacceptable contract, and despite many months of pushback from the students, and despite UCSC voting against it, the union ratified it anyway (including a no-strike clause). Also, the faculty of UCSC voted against the firings.

The back story here is that United Auto Workers (the UC grad students’ union) negotiated an unacceptable contract, and despite many months of pushback from the students, and despite UCSC voting against it, the union ratified it anyway (including a no-strike clause).

Yup, the students joined the union and the union negotiated a contract they didn't like.

Now the students are breaking that contract.

Re: UC Santa Cruz fires 54 grad students who were striking for higher pay

#122

Post by ab_testing »

The university knows that there is no dearth of graduate students coming into the US. These international grad students will work at whatever wages the university offers - simply for a chance to work in the US on OPT and a chance to get into the H1 lottery eventually.

Re: UC Santa Cruz fires 54 grad students who were striking for higher pay

#123

Post by refurb »

aaomidi wrote: post #38
antiterra wrote: post #24

I got filled with righteous internet rage when I read the headline, but then I read the article. The particular strike was implemented by withholding fall grades, which seems to unnecessarily burden students who are to be buried under crushing debt, no? Also, they are apparently unionized and this strike was against the extant agreements. The consequences of not getting a grade can affect a student’s entire career an…

It's like protests is meant to cause a disruption. I really have a terrible place in my heart for people who criticize protests because it caused a disruption. That's the point of a protest. I'm very happy for you that you've never felt the need to take these drastic steps, but they're protesting real issues and real problems they're having. The grades are ultimately the universities problem

Protesting by making the lives harder for your fellow students is just a dumb strategy.

It doesn't hurt the administration, it hurts the students.

Now the students are backing the administration!

Re: UC Santa Cruz fires 54 grad students who were striking for higher pay

#125

Post by anonsivalley652 »

valid4life wrote: post #114
anonsivalley652 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Striking when it's convenient is worthless. Perhaps if the students weren't so entitled, they'd understand that solidarity is important and that grades should be handled. Furthermore, you have to realize the university is punishing you to turn you against the grad students... and it appears they have succeeded. If I were an ugrad there, I'd be right there with the grad students. I was an ugrad at another UC where 2/3…

I agree that striking when its convenient is worthless, but at the same time, I have various emails from my direct TAs and the COLA organization as a whole mentioning the intent is to not harm undergrads, but here we are... Additionally, I'm not sure where youre getting the students are "entitled". I work and take loans out in order to go to this school, takes classes, and receive my grades. Am I entitled for wanting…

Name calling, binary thinking and whining aren't constructive. Good luck in the real world if you haven't yet learned the Golden Rule or grown thicker skin, because a degree won't matter if your attitude is reactive or poor.

Re: UC Santa Cruz fires 54 grad students who were striking for higher pay

#126

Post by lawnchair_larry »

anonsivalley652 wrote: post #119
andrepd wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a power asymmetry between the worker class and the capitalist class. By that Gilded Age logic, certainly all unqualified workers -- and many qualified ones as is this case -- do not have the right to strike. It's because of that power asymmetry that there are utterly basic protections such as it being illegal to fire strikers, hire scabs, etc. Your "free market" approach makes for a very dystopic world indee…

[flagged]

Yet these are the same people complaining about rising tuition costs.

Re: UC Santa Cruz fires 54 grad students who were striking for higher pay

#127

Post by detaro »

valid4life wrote: post #114
anonsivalley652 wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Striking when it's convenient is worthless. Perhaps if the students weren't so entitled, they'd understand that solidarity is important and that grades should be handled. Furthermore, you have to realize the university is punishing you to turn you against the grad students... and it appears they have succeeded. If I were an ugrad there, I'd be right there with the grad students. I was an ugrad at another UC where 2/3…

I agree that striking when its convenient is worthless, but at the same time, I have various emails from my direct TAs and the COLA organization as a whole mentioning the intent is to not harm undergrads, but here we are... Additionally, I'm not sure where youre getting the students are "entitled". I work and take loans out in order to go to this school, takes classes, and receive my grades. Am I entitled for wanting…

> The administration is not withholding grades

It clearly has the resources to provide you with your grades, it's not like the specific grad students are the only ones being able to grade random undergrad work. It appears it's failing to provide the service you pay it for.

Re: UC Santa Cruz fires 54 grad students who were striking for higher pay

#128

Post by option »

papeda wrote: post #108

There are about 1800 UCSC graduate students [1]. From this 2014-15 UCSC budget report [2] there is a very near 2:1 masters:phd graduation ratio. Assuming there are 2 years of masters students and 6 of PhD at any one time, that makes PhD students 60% of “graduate students”. Let’s make this easy by saying 1000 PhD students (if anything I imagine it’s way less than this — as I understand, monetizing masters students has…

"lot of people on HN probably see the current low wages as a natural function of supply and demand" - as a former grad student at one of UC's campuses - this is not as simple as you put it.

A lot of grad students are international students (like I was) and they simply can't work anywhere else due to their visa restrictions.

Re: UC Santa Cruz fires 54 grad students who were striking for higher pay

#129

Post by anonsivalley652 »

gyrgtyn wrote: post #124

A bunch of people that make 500K try to explain why people that make 28K shouldn't make 45K. In a town where rent is 20K.

The university needs a couple shiny new buildings and the employees need a fancy retreat in Aspen, so grad students need to be happy with crumbs.

Poe's law disclaimer: sarcasm, a miraculous new technology that makes words have absolutely identical meanings in a completely humorless manner.

Re: UC Santa Cruz fires 54 grad students who were striking for higher pay

#130

Post by valid4life »

anonsivalley652 wrote: post #125
valid4life wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that striking when its convenient is worthless, but at the same time, I have various emails from my direct TAs and the COLA organization as a whole mentioning the intent is to not harm undergrads, but here we are... Additionally, I'm not sure where youre getting the students are "entitled". I work and take loans out in order to go to this school, takes classes, and receive my grades. Am I entitled for wanting…

Name calling, binary thinking and whining aren't constructive. Good luck in the real world if you haven't yet learned the Golden Rule or grown thicker skin, because a degree won't matter if your attitude is reactive or poor.

> Name Calling

I did not mean to come across this way or call you any names - can you point where I did so I won't repeat it?

My skin is plenty thick, and this back and forth isn't meant to be whining. I'm just curious about your approach to this and it is fun to hear others perspectives, especially on such a polarizing topic.

I'm a little perplexed on this reply to be honest. How is this constructive? I'm open to hearing how you think I can improve and help me understand how my attitude is reactive or poor.

Post reply on HN