Originally Posted by JMerolli

1. We aren't blocking you, we are delaying you. So its up to you if you want to wait in the line.

2. Again, I point to the limits on our work hours. We are NOT ALLOWED to work more then 10 hours a week at ANY job. The University can sanction us for that. So our yearly salary is under 10,000. Which once you subtract our tuition is not much, considering what I have outlined is expected from us to complete the program. Plus, we are happy with our wages, what we are concerned about is the erosion of our take home pay, which is affected by tution increases. We want protection from that.

3. Im not sure what that statement is in response to so I can't follow your logic.
I think you are arguing we are punishing innocent victims. If I was extreme is comparing us to child labour - which i agree is extreme but it was just the easier reference - i think comparing what we are doing to killing kittens is just as extreme. All I have to say to that really is, we are victims, along with you.

Thankfully my supervisors don't agree with you on my ability to write exam answers!

1. Again delaying me for 45 minutes a day = 3.75 hours a week. At your luxurious wages thats $150. Again what if I blocked your driveway protesting this and you ended up losing money by not being able to go to work or get anything done at school? It's up to me if I want to wait in line? Oh well you can back out of your driveway but not until May 4th, 2029....its up to you if you want to wait in your car.

2. AGAIN, as I have posted many times thats $1,600 a month. To make this much, the majority of students making minimum wage have to work over 42 hours a week for this. I still have yet to see how this is fair. Many of the previous arguments simply stated that money was an issue and did not go into detail about 'erosion'.

3. I picked the kitten reference to compare one extreme with the other, plus I thought it was so extreme that it was humorous, which in many cases makes arguing bearable. While were talking extremes, i don't think you should equate protestors to students as being victims on the same level. I don't have 45 minutes to expand on this, but I'm hoping the reasons are obvious.

A comment re: parking on vs. off campus issue from an earlier post:

It is a pretty bad situation for the people that's paid for parking on campus, but it really comes down to if an individual wants to stick strictly with the should-get-what-I-paid-for principle and line up to get across the picket line, or to put one's ideals aside and do what's faster. The street parking idea was brought up to be a more convenient alternative given the situation, while it does seem unjust to the ones that's paid for parking already...

I wonder if the parking office is willing to extend or pro-rate the parking costs to permit holders. One can argue that their response can be seen as either encouraging drivers to go through the picket lines or not...

More support from faculty from across the country.

http://unit1strike.files.wor dpress...2009-11-03.pdf

The faculty support reflects the general frustration in acedemia that universities are moving away from the core values of high quality research and toward a business model.

Yes Mac is a 1st class institution and we want to keep it that way!

You still haven't answered my question: are you asking for the 10 hour rule to be waved?

Originally Posted by talues

I do pay some taxes, and I'm annoyed at people who attend government subsidized institutes of higher education not to learn, but merely to obtain a degree so that they can claim they've learned.

But hey, nothing I can do about that, right?

Are you really trying to imply that I don't learn? That's funny.

Originally Posted by DannyV

You still haven't answered my question: are you asking for the 10 hour rule to be waved?

I think that rule only applies to international students, although it is also a stipulation for some scholarships (such as NSERC and OGS).

It would be difficult for me to find the time to pick up a part time job: Between classes, research and TAing (although not right now) I'm basically going all out most of the time. If I didn't receive enough funding such that I would need to pick up a part time job, well, I don't think grad school would be possible.

Again, the TA-ship is offered as an incentive for many of us to come here.

Also, I would again like to point that the universities bulls*** propagation of this "hourly rate" idea. The hourly rate isn't what is important: It is the total amount over the entire year which we make. And let me tell you: the amount we receive from TAing isn't anywhere near the 19k one member pointed out.

My spacebar has a smooth spot where my right thumb sits. I think that means I use my spacebar more with my right thumb then left thumb.

So that comes back to financial planning. You were offered a contract with a certain pay rate, you knew your tuition, you knew it would increase (or at least that it is reasonable for it to increase).

Originally Posted by DannyV

So that comes back to financial planning. You were offered a contract with a certain pay rate, you knew your tuition, you knew it would increase (or at least that it is reasonable for it to increase).

And now the terms of the contract has changed. Just trying to keep a fair contract.

And it's not the pay rate: It's everything but the pay rate.

And again, I'm not pro-strike: I'm pro-settlement (as in, fair settlement). While I have defended the strike many times, it was more to try and get people to see both sides of the situation (there is a third side too).

Sorry if none of this makes sense. Stayed up late finishing class related stuff.

Originally Posted by DannyV

So that comes back to financial planning. You were offered a contract with a certain pay rate, you knew your tuition, you knew it would increase (or at least that it is reasonable for it to increase).

If you are suggesting that we should have gone somewhere else, trust me a I think about that everyday.

I think its really important to learn about what exactly graduate school is and requires of people to understand our position. Rather then repeat myself, I have posted some info above. Please remember, we are researchers for the university as well. While there is variation on this, many of us support this research through our TAship. This is why the hourly wage is seems so high.

Also, the 10 hours rule applies to domestics. I ran into an issue over it this summer, with RA work. Unless things have changed since then.

Yes, we asked for more hours from the University. However, we backed off on that, in order to get them to move on other issues like benefits and class size. However, they keep offering the same package.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. My mom is a non-unionized employee of McMaster, who is already paid less than a TA per hour, even though she has a degree and has worked at Mac for about 20 years, first filling in where ever she was needed, and now as a salaried employee. Every time the unions at Mac demand more wages and benefits, her wages and benefits are cut. Her boss has said that he feels she is underpaid and deserves more, but the money isn't there in the budget for it; now there will be even less if the union gets its way.

How is this situation equitable to employees? How does someone who has minimal experience working at Mac and works in a part-time capacity make more than someone who was begged to take on the position that they hold and has a long history as a good employee at Mac? This, among other reasons, is why I have no time for the union and the strike.

Originally Posted by Maegs

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. My mom is a non-unionized employee of McMaster, who is already paid less than a TA per hour, even though she has a degree and has worked at Mac for about 20 years, first filling in where ever she was needed, and now as a salaried employee. Every time the unions at Mac demand more wages and benefits, her wages and benefits are cut. Her boss has said that he feels she is underpaid and deserves more, but the money isn't there in the budget for it; now there will be even less if the union gets its way.

How is this situation equitable to employees? How does someone who has minimal experience working at Mac and works in a part-time capacity make more than someone who was begged to take on the position that they hold and has a long history as a good employee at Mac? This, among other reasons, is why I have no time for the union and the strike.

Ya know what? I hate to say it, but if your moms benefits are continually being cut, she and others in her situation may benefit from being in a union... (not necessarily 3906). This is the sort of thing unions protect against: The rich getting richer, and the not so rich getting poorer.

Originally Posted by talues

Ya know what? I hate to say it, but if your moms benefits are continually being cut, she and others in her situation may benefit from being in a union... (not necessarily 3906). This is the sort of thing unions protect against: The rich getting richer, and the not so rich getting poorer.

I knew this was coming.

OR we could just get rid of the unions altogether, and the result would be the same.

Originally Posted by spyder83

2. AGAIN, as I have posted many times thats $1,600 a month. To make this much, the majority of students making minimum wage have to work over 42 hours a week for this. I still have yet to see how this is fair. Many of the previous arguments simply stated that money was an issue and did not go into detail about 'erosion'.

I completely agree. I haven't done the math so I don't know what each TA makes per month, but anything over $1,000 should be enough to live on. If it's not, maybe you should move into a less expensive place, get a roommate, eat Kraft Dinner for a few weeks, etc., like the rest of us.

To get a TA position, you have to receive pretty decent grades. Which means that you're probably eligible for many scholarships as well. I've read some of the comments on the CUPE blog where TAs say things like "I get $16,000 per year. Will I get less if the union succeeds in their demands?" And I have a friend (she was a TA last year); she managed to live in a Toronto apartment, by herself, and pay for her tuition and all other costs with the money she made from being a TA.

TAs are allowed to work more jobs OFF campus. They (like every other student working at Mac) are only allowed to work 10 hours per week ON campus. Other than that, they are free to do what they want.

Originally Posted by Kathy2

TAs are allowed to work more jobs OFF campus. They (like every other student working at Mac) are only allowed to work 10 hours per week ON campus. Other than that, they are free to do what they want.

FWIW

They ARE limited to 10 hours of work OFF campus as it is felt that more than this would interfere with their studies/research. Also, if they make too much money at another job they lose their scholarships.

Originally Posted by Kathy2

I don't know if this is relevant or not, but I want to point out that Stubbs is a fourth year seminar professor and he doesn't want to cross the picket lines. So that seminar doesn't have a prof and a bunch of fourth year Pol Sci students are getting screwed because of him.

I'm not sure if that has anything to do with anything, but I thought I should mention it. It just seems odd to me that he would complain about the "misguided priorities of the university" when he is directly screwing over students.

FYI I just recieved confirmation from Richard that he did not cancel his class.

I believe you have him confused with Govind Rao from Political Science. Some other people are making their class material available online.

But I stand by my statement that Richard's work as MUFA points to the problems within the University on how money is spent.

As a CLA, with much weaker job security that a tenures professor, Govind's decision to stand up to the University is truly amazing. He is one of the most dedicated profs I have met, so again I know this wasn't an easy decision for him.class.