Unions For TAs Necessary

I was surprised to discover a recent Daily Free Press article entitled “BU TAs say no union needed.” Apparently, the fact that students eventually graduate means history is sometimes lost. In the fall of 1997, many teaching fellows in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences expressed concern about a disparate pay policy. The policy, purportedly meant to attract new students, paid incoming students receiving teaching fellowships a higher stipend (higher by $1,000/academic year) than continuing students also receiving teaching fellowships that same year. At the time, a large number of graduate students came together to write letters and otherwise express concern about the policy to the Boston University administration. Many faculty also supported this student-driven effort. That same fall, the administration decided to raise the pay for continuing students to the same level as new students, resolving the issue.

An added result of that effort was the creation of the Graduate Student Organization, by which graduate students in Arts and Sciences could continue to collaborate. Since then, the GSO has built a rapport with the administration and has successfully addressed several issues concerning graduate students, including some resolved through cooperative work with the administration. This cooperative approach can be successful in many cases, but it is important to remember the “noise” students made about the original pay policy was likely a factor in its eventual change. Today, a different pay disparity (also of $1,000) still exists between teaching fellows in the natural sciences and those in the humanities/social sciences, despite the fact that teaching fellows in many different departments do comparable work. A union for teaching fellows at BU would represent a route by which students could work collaboratively towards equitable pay and working conditions, especially in cases where cooperation with the administration is not successful. For graduate students experiencing problems with their work environment, it is not easy to leave a degree program and start anew, especially considering investments in meeting the coursework, qualifying exam and other requirements that graduate programs impose. Thus, having mechanisms for graduate students to resolve problems and concerns, which the collective power of a union could provide to teaching fellows, is very important.