STRIKE FAQs

Simply put, a picket line is a boundary established by workers on strike! It’s a public expression by striking workers of their dispute, which conveys a request for other workers and community members to join them in solidarity. We can increase the impact of a strike by encouraging non-graduate worker colleagues to not cross the line and avoid activities that weaken our decision to withhold our labor.

We will have music, snacks, and activities during the pickets! We will also have some ‘study pickets’ since it is finals week!

In Alaska, strikes are legal for most public sector employees. That said, our situation is legally novel. Alaskan labor law is complex and under-tested and there are no other graduate worker unions in the state meaning we are working in new waters. There is a chance that the University will attempt to declare our strike illegal -- they have stated that they do not believe it is legal for us to strike at this time. If they take further action to attempt to halt a strike, a court could call on the union to tell its members not to strike. 

However, like grad workers in other states, our true power and protection comes from each other.  Any action we take must involve substantial majorities to be effective!

Remember, UA can halt a work stoppage any time by coming to us with a fair deal!

The University has not yet agreed to mediation to help resolve our disputes. Not only is this frustrating to our bargaining process, this will prompt them to claim that this is not a “legal” strike under Alaska state law. But the stakes are high and if we don’t reach a suitable agreement that we can ratify before the end of the legislative session, we will face another year before our issues get suitably addressed. Our greatest protection comes from mass participation. If anyone experiences retaliation, we will stand together and our union has resources to help you. We are in this together, as a unit!

Retaliation can include academic consequences like your advisor giving you bad scores on thesis credits, a bad annual review, or advisors pressuring graduate workers to graduate early or late. In extreme cases, it can include losing one's job. However, graduate workers perform essential research and teaching functions at UA, and as long as we stand together, we keep each other safe from all forms of retaliation.

This is a common concern, but here are a few considerations and strategies:

1. The more of us who participate the less likely that you will experience negative impacts. Stand together to be protected!

2. You are welcomed and encouraged to talk with advisors and supervisors about this ahead of time! Let them know that if it comes to a strike, it is because the University is not negotiating fairly with us and we feel we have no other choice. They are welcome to let the university know that if we strike it would affect them negatively!

   • You may want to talk to them with other lab/department members! It does not have to be a 1on1 conversation. If you want an AGWA-UAW committee member there who can answer tough questions, reach out! We are happy to help with these conversations.

   • You and others could write a group letter explaining how you will strike.

3. Whether or not the strike is deemed 'protected', it is unlikely you will experience retaliation. If someone at the university were to try to do this to you, LET US KNOW because we can help you.

4. The faculty union (UNAC) supports AGWA-UAW and will help inform faculty about strike plans and what that means for them. 

5. If you or others have identified supportive faculty members in your department, consider enlisting their help in talking to other faculty!

In general, you should strike any and all work. But, if not doing something right now would cause a catastrophic failure of your thesis, then you can still do it. If you can still do something that acknowledges the strike or causes disruption, you should try to do that! Some examples are:

• "I have a conference to attend during the strike": You can attend the conference. Neither you nor UA have any control over the timing of the conference and skipping it could be catastrophic for you in the loss of networking opportunities etc. Instead, you could wear a red union shirt (contact us to get one) or an AGWA-UAW sticker or button, or add a slide to you presentation or sticker to your poster about the strike.

• "I have field work/data collection that can not be rescheduled during that time": You can do the field work/collect the data, but do only what can absolutely not be done any other time: you should not do any preliminary analysis, or make any preliminary reports on the data/collection efforts during the strike. If you can, wear a union shirt or sticker to show your support!

• "I have to do my defense/committee meeting during the strike": If possible, try to schedule these things outside our most likely strike times (mid-late April), but if you can't, then go ahead with them. Again, consider wearing something or putting something in your materials that acknowledges the strike and your support for it.

If you have work that you are not sure how to address during a strike you can:

1. Discuss with others in your department/in similar situations to come up with consistent ways to handle it.

2. Contact us at organize(dot)agwa@gmail(dot)com for ideas and recommendations

Strike Guidelines

• Intent to work: 

  • If it’s not normal for you to report when or if you are working on a certain day, you do not need to respond if your PI asks you if you intend to work. 

  • If it is normal for you to report those things, or if you feel the need to respond, you can definitely say you will not know until Monday (4/29) morning.

• Timesheet:

  • Hourly employees: You should stop filling out your timesheet while you strike. Please sign up for picket shifts to ensure that you will be eligible for strike pay ($500/week). [LINK]

  • Work-study Graduate Assistants (Student Assistant: WS): If you fill out a timesheet for a stipend (i.e. you put in the same number of hours regardless of actual hours worked) you should continue to fill out your timesheet as usual. 

• University property: During a strike if you are asked to return work related property, you should return it (i.e., if you’re a TA, turn in your gradebook or papers that need grading). This doesn’t apply to equipment or materials you have received as a student (ie., your academic computer, even if you do some paid work on it). 

It might, but the university uses the “nobility” of teaching/research as a justification to underpay us and devalue our labor. Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions! When TAs cannot afford adequate housing, food, or decent healthcare, they cannot be effective instructors in the classroom. Students will benefit from the university granting graduate workers a fair and equitable contract. 

We encourage you to let your students know ahead of time that a strike may be coming and that it doesn't need to if the university agrees to a fair contract.