This is the third in a series of CUCFA’s FAQ’s about the UAW strike. The first set of FAQs is available here. The second set is available here.

Q1: Who will be responsible for the grading when the strike is resolved?

A1: If a settlement is reached before the end of the current quarter/semester, your existing ASE may be able to complete the grading, but only if it fits within their contractual workload limits. If a resolution is not reached until the next quarter/semester, an agreement about grading may be part of the settlement between UC and UAW. If not, then departments will need to hire ASEs on new contracts to complete that work. CUCFA advocates for this additional labor to be centrally funded rather than a departmental responsibility.

Q2: Can I submit P/NP grades on campuses where that option exists for students and where they had done enough to pass the class before the strike started without picking up struck work?

A2: The option to provide P/NP grades on some campuses does not alter the fact that the calculation of a passing grade is ordinarily work performed by ASEs, so it remains struck work.

Q3: If all the labor of calculating grades was already completed before the strike, or my ASE was not on strike and has graded all work, should I submit grades?

A3: In this case, you should submit grades unless you have chosen to honor the picket line and withhold your labor from the university.

Q4: Can I volunteer to perform some of my ASE’s grading work for students with exceptional circumstances and still maintain my HEERA protections?

A4: Faculty who are refusing to perform struck work could volunteer to do some small amount of struck work to provide grades to individuals with exceptional circumstances. This should be done sparingly and may not be necessary, as many campuses have made contingency plans for impacted students.

Q5. How should faculty handle grades for graduate courses numbered 299 or 500?

A5. Faculty should exercise caution with course numbers like 299 and 500, where the sole purpose of enrolling in those courses is to work as a Graduate Student Researcher (represented by SRU) or Teaching Assistant (a position represented in the ASE unit). Communications that “interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees because of their exercise of rights guaranteed under HEERA,” including the right to strike, violate Section 3571(a) of HEERA. UAW has already filed unfair labor practice charges for this kind of action. Their lawyers have sent a “cease and desist” letter to UC labor relations and labor relations offices on each campus. Although faculty are generally unlikely to be found supervisory or managerial employees under HEERA, they can still exercise institutional authority or take adverse actions against UAW members, and faculty should ensure that their actions are not construed as interfering with or discriminating against employees for the exercise of protected rights. Additionally an “unsatisfactory” grade in one of these courses could not only be construed as retaliation, but it could also put grads in “poor academic standing,” which can lead to loss of health insurance or visas.

Dear Colleagues,

On Thursday, December 1, Senate faculty received a potentially misleading email from the President’s Office of the University of California, titled “Regarding Faculty Rights and Responsibilities,” and signed by Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Michael Brown.

This communication fails to distinguish between being on strike and declining to pick up struck labor. It is the case that the university may dock pay for any faculty on strike, although it is unclear precisely how they would enforce that policy. Faculty pay can only be docked for the period during which they choose to strike, not for the duration of the multi-unit strike itself. While a partial strike by faculty can be unprotected, it is unclear what mechanism of reporting or tracking the University is using to determine whether faculty are continuing to engage in non-instructional labor, such as their own research. Similarly, it is also not apparent what mechanism of reporting would be used to discipline those they believed have violated the Faculty Code of Conduct by engaging in the unprotected activity of a partial strike if they had continued non-instructional labor whether for university service or their own research.

The vast majority of faculty have not been on strike; they have continued to teach their classes and to support the strike in other ways. However, UC is now asking Senate faculty to take up the struck labor of their ASEs on strike. Struck labor would include returning grades for classes with ASEs where ASEs are responsible for grading and/or grade submission. Refusing to do this additional labor, for no further compensation, does not represent being on strike. Refusing to pick up the struck labor of ASE grading is not the same as a sympathy strike, and so the issue of “all or nothing,” or “whole” or “partial” striking is irrelevant. Faculty have the HEERA-protected right not to take up this struck labor if they choose not to do so. And their pay cannot be docked for not picking up struck labor. If you choose not to pick up the struck labor of ASE grading, please register that here in this anonymous tally.

Senate faculty are being told that if they do not pick up the struck work of ASE grading some undergraduate students will be harmed. We share the concern for students that depend on their grades to access financial aid, to earn scholarships, and who need their grades for other reasons. However, it is the university’s responsibility to make contingency plans that ensure these students are not impacted by the strike, and some campuses have already communicated to undergraduates that such plans are in place. They have the capacity, as they did during the pandemic, to be flexible about grades and deadlines.

We urge all Senate faculty to support the multi-unit strike by graduate students, postdocs and student researchers. Low paid work and uncompetitive wages damage the capacity of the university to deliver world class teaching and research. You have HEERA protected legal rights to go on strike, and yet it is critical not to confuse that with your right to refuse to take up the additional struck labor of grading.

Dear colleagues,

We have entered the second week of the UAW multi-unit strike. CUCFA is inspired by our fellow academic workers represented by UAW, who are fighting to create a UC where everyone can live with dignity in the place they work. We reaffirm our message to President Drake sent on November 11, 2022, with over 1,400 Senate faculty signatures, that urged him to direct his staff to engage in good faith bargaining. We join 100 UC departments, programs, and committees that publicly expressed their support for striking academic workers. They have written letters of solidarity, with some committing not to perform work that the striking workers would normally do.  Groups of faculty have also organized a sign-on letter directed to state leaders and a pledge by faculty who are exercising their right to respect the UAW picket.

The strike has prompted many conversations among Senate faculty members about our rights and responsibilities. At UCLA, the Academic Senate has issued guidance reiterating that faculty are not expected to take on additional labor if they choose not to, and that graduate student workers must not face retaliation for striking. UC faculty with expertise in labor law have also produced a detailed legal memo that explains the HEERA category of “supervisory employee” and reaffirms UC Senate faculty members’ right to respect the UAW picket. CUCFA’s FAQ and one issued by an autonomous faculty organizing group further articulate Senate faculty rights and responsibilities during the strike. The new CUCFA FAQ specifically addresses questions related to grades and grading.

This message and the updated CUCFA FAQ come in response to several notes Senate faculty across the system sent to info@cucfa.org that report being encouraged to take on additional labor to make up for the missing work of ASEs – for example, being asked to proctor exams and help with grading if they are not currently teaching. CUCFA is extremely concerned that such requests, issued under titles such as “Instructional Guidelines for Educational Continuity,” harm faculty interests. These requests increase the instructional workload of already overtaxed and exhausted faculty and ask us to give up our HEERA-protected right not to volunteer to take up struck labor. Further, taking on these tasks would undermine the strike’s impact and falsely communicate to both students and the administration that we can continue to do our jobs without the labor of striking workers.

As stated in the grades/grading FAQ Q1, if you receive one of these messages that suggests you take on additional labor, you can respond by declining the extra work and communicating that you do not wish to volunteer to take up the struck labor. If your department chair or Dean insists that you must perform the additional struck work, you have the right under HEERA to refuse. If you do not feel comfortable doing so, you can state that you are performing the work under protest. You should document all new duties, dates, and time required to perform the work, any agreement on mitigation of the increase in work, how you will be compensated for this increase, and any objections you have, including your physical and mental ability to complete the work. A template response for this email is below. Additionally, you can cc info@cucfa.org or contact your campus Faculty Association, and we can facilitate communication with the appropriate Academic Senate committee or office on your campus.

We recognize that these kinds of administrative requests will disproportionately impact faculty who are untenured or otherwise marginalized in their departments by placing informal pressures on them to cooperate even if they wish to act in solidarity with striking workers by not diminishing the impact of their absence from work. We therefore encourage tenured faculty to exercise their privilege and take the lead by issuing collective statements affirming the rights of UAW strikers and of faculty wishing to respect the picket line and/or not take up struck labor.

CUCFA will be working with campus Faculty Associations to strategize with faculty across departments and academic divisions about how they can feel more empowered to exercise their HEERA-protected rights. Please be on the lookout for this announcement. We invite signatories of the original CUCFA solidarity statement to help us in this outreach. If you would like to help facilitate these conversations in your department, on your campus, or at the statewide level, please reach out to us at info@cucfa.org.

Email template – feel free to modify to your specific circumstances

Dear X,

I am writing in response to your guidance that faculty members facilitate instructional continuity during the strike. I would like to inform you that I am exercising my HEERA-protected right not to  volunteer to perform struck work tied to ASE’s Description of Duties. If this guidance is a directive rather than a suggestion, and you are requiring me to perform this work under discipline or other threat of adverse consequences, I want to register my objection to doing so and state that I understand this to be an unfair labor practice. If this is a directive, please inform me of my new duties, and the dates during which you expect me to perform them. I would also like to know what mitigation measures are available to offset the increase in work and how I will be compensated for this additional labor.

Thank you,