Most T.A.'s already have appointments that assume that their work can be completed in that amount of time. But the faculty leaders want to ensure that individual professors have flexibility in determining how a T.A.'s hours are broken down week in and week out. Typically, professors note, the work may be light at the start of a semester and heavier at midterms and finals. The university has argued that any disagreements over workloads should be resolved quickly through internal grievance procedures, not through lengthy arbitration meetings laid out in the contract. We take that delegation quite seriously.
Union leaders say they have never sought to bargain over class content.
Still, he and other union officials decline to be specific about what they are seeking. We think that should be done at the table. Ms. Schirmer does say that the union aims to win a contract that would allow T.A.'s to go through outside mediation to resolve any disputes with faculty bosses. An appeal through administrative channels might resolve a dispute between a graduate student and a thesis adviser, but it's not the solution to a problem between a T.A. and a faculty boss. One U.C. official, asking not to be identified, says that when the politicians intervened last year, they pressured the university to let the union elections run their course.