If the ideal student job is one that gives a full-tuition scholarship, pays decently, offers flexible hours and involves meaningful work, then the Teaching Assistants and Graduate Assistants of UB should rejoice and congratulate one another on their good fortune.
The job does have its pitfalls, however. Until recently, graduate students working as TAs or GAs were having union dues taken from their pay even if they weren't union members, according to Gregory Ball, a graduate student with the computer science and engineering department.
Furthermore, the Graduate Student Employees Union wasn't telling people what these dues were doing or giving them a chance to object-a direct violation of a 2005 case between the California Teacher Association and the National Right to Work Foundation.
In that case, U.S. District Court Judge James Ware ruled that labor unions did not have the right to finance their political activism with fees paid by non-union members. So, while their behavior might have been allowed by state law, it wasn't by federal law.
TAs and GAs who have been affected by this can't kiss these fees goodbye, however.
"After pursuing the matter in court with the help of the National Right to Work Foundation, a settlement was reached affecting non-members over the past few years, up to the limitation imposed by statute," Ball said. "All the non-members can receive checks for 40 percent of the dues they paid over the past three years."
Furthermore, while they may not realize it, all non-member TAs and GAs can continue to receive checks while they are working if they don't wish their money to be used for activism.
"Even a check for $50 per semester will buy someone a couple of pizzas or dinners," Ball said.
Those who wish to receive these checks must simply write a letter objecting to the deduction of union fees from their paycheck, and they will receive yearly checks, Ball said. Objecting and receiving these checks doesn't disqualify an employee from anything-they still are eligible for insurance and all the other benefits that the union brings to GAs and TAs.
This settlement doesn't just affect GAs and TAs at UB, but it affects people in the entire SUNY system, according to Ball.
However, the settlement will not have a significantly adverse effect on the UB branch of the labor union because many TAs and GAs at UB said they believe that the GSEU is fighting for their interests and are willing to lend it financial support.
"It kind of stinks that we have to pay these union fees," said Dan Bailey, a graduate student in the physics department. "But if we didn't have it, health insurance would cost ten times more for me and my wife. So it actually takes a burden off my shoulders."
Justin Perron, another graduate student in the physics department, agreed with Bailey and said the union benefits are well worth the fees.
"We got pay raises every few years, medical insurance and other benefits," Perron said. "So I definitely support the union for all that. So, yeah, the union fees are definitely worth it."
While some may object to the GSEU taking union fees directly from paychecks, the organization has accomplished a lot and bargained for the numerous benefits that TAs and GAs now enjoy.
The GSEU, a division of Communications Workers of America, was founded at UB in the 1970s. Since then, it has grown significantly and now represents nearly 5,000 members in the SUNY system.
Over the years, the union has focused its energies on three broad issues: wages, health insurance and workload. In 1999, the minimum stipend for TAs and GAs was $5,570 per year. The current stipend for full year assistantships is $8,093 annually, meaning the minimum pay has risen by over 45 percent in six years.
Though it has not delivered similarly drastic results on workload and healthcare, the GSEU has nevertheless advanced the cause of its members on these two issues.
According to the GSEU official Web site, the organization "has prevented wrongful terminations and unlawful increases in the workload." Moreover, the union has so far been able to preserve the high-quality, low-cost health insurance coverage available to its members.
Indeed, the GAs and TAs of UB receive many substantial benefits and privileges such as state-subsidized health care, yearly pay raises and the ever-useful "faculty/staff" parking permit, but all this comes at a cost to the university, which ultimately translates into a higher tuition for undergraduate students.
Many UB students, however, said this is a necessary investment and reject the notion that GAs and TAs are overpaid.
"They themselves are obviously necessary for the university. If it weren't for them, who can teach all the labs, who can grade papers and tests, who can give extra help to the students?" asked Brian Hoffman, a sophomore pre-med major. "If we had all professors teaching the labs, for example, we would spend even more money. So I think it is a good investment."
Asad Rizvi, sophomore biomedical sciences major, said he holds a similar view.
"They themselves are students, and they need to support themselves," he said. "They need a source of sustenance since they are independent adults. So, paying them and giving them benefits are the right things to do."
Additional reporting by Siobhan A. Counihan, news editor.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
