Penn’s graduate student union staged an information picket on Oct. 8 to demand fair contracts and organize members in preparation for a potential strike.
Credit: Weining Ding
Penn’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors released guidance on Saturday for faculty in the event of a potential graduate employee strike.
The Oct. 11 message was sent in response to a memo from the Office of the Vice Provosts for Education — which was obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian — that outlined recommendations for department chairs to “maintain teaching continuity” should teaching and research assistants participate in a work stoppage. AAUP-Penn characterized the plans as “strikebreaking” and provided its own list of recommendations for faculty, including information on how to support union members.
AAUP-Penn coupled its suggestions with an annotated copy of the Vice Provosts’ memo.
“In asking you to break a strike, the administration is asking you to compromise your integrity, your relationships with graduate workers and colleagues, the quality of your students’ education, and your ability to recruit graduate students for years to come,” AAUP-Penn wrote. “Don’t do it.”
In a statement to the DP, a University spokesperson wrote that “[as] members of the Penn community, we are all committed in our mission of generating and sharing knowledge with future generations.”
“Teaching and research continuity planning, along with consistent student support, ensures we continue to achieve our shared academic mission for all of our students across our 12 schools,” the statement continued.
The faculty group took issue with Penn’s advice that “teaching continuity” supports all students, writing instead that “the administration can ensure that students learn without interruption by settling a fair contract.”
“The reason they don’t want graduate students who are not in the bargaining unit to serve as strikebreakers is that, by taking on teaching duties, they might become eligible to join the union,” AAUP-Penn added. “Penn spent decades fighting to prevent graduate workers from voting to unionize at all, and is still working to keep some from becoming members.”
Instead, AAUP-Penn encouraged its members to “support [the] contract campaign” and explain to students “why a fair contract for graduate workers will make Penn a better place for them to learn.”
The document also instructed faculty not to report the names of strikers or strikebreakers, citing the administrators’ interest in “retaliat[ing] against workers exercising their legal right to strike.”
AAUP-Penn similarly discouraged grading assignments or hosting classes if TAs “normally do that work” but can no longer due to the strike.
“The more unified faculty and students are behind graduate workers, the more the administration will recognize that it needs to reach a fair agreement quickly,” the AAUP-Penn suggestions read.
The Vice Provosts’ memo was published following Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania’s Oct. 8 informational picket, which union leaders described as the first step to a potential strike by graduate student workers. At the demonstration, GET-UP demanded a fair contract with provisions on international student support, protections against discrimination and harassment, and increased stipends.
The closing speech of the demonstration — delivered by Guruprerana Shabadi, a second-year Computer and Information Science Ph.D. candidate— announced that GET-UP members have begun to sign strike pledges. If the University fails to agree to the terms of the proposed contract, GET-UP will hold a vote on whether to stage a graduate employee strike across the University.
On Oct. 8, the Executive Committee of AAUP-Penn announced its solidarity with GET-UP’s “efforts to win a democratic voice at work and an enforceable contract that guarantees their rights are all the more important.”
Sign up for our newsletter
Get our newsletter, DP Daybreak, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
“When administrations ask you to be a strikebreaker … they are asking you to take a side against the RAs and TAs,” the Executive Committee wrote. “They want you to ignore the plain fact that the best way to ensure teaching continuity is to stand in solidarity with graduate workers today, sending the message that the administration must arrive at a fair contract now.”
The statement alleged that instead of negotiating the contract in good faith, Penn’s administration has distributed “anti-union messaging” in preparation for the possible strike.
“If GETUP members vote to strike in order to win a fair contract, they will have AAUP-Penn’s support and solidarity,” the Executive Committee added.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.