Jason Epstein should be ashamed of himself. His viewpoint used unverified and tangential statistics to make the claim that a grad student union would be harmful and unrepresentative of TAs and RAs at the University, using his own "silenced voice" as an example.

First of all, Mr. Epstein's silenced voice happens to coincide with the rather ominous voice of Tufts administrators. Call me cynical, but I am wary of anyone who's voice mimics the cry of an administration that made us fight half a year (not to mention the decade leading up to this past campaign) to get decent living wages for our janitors - most of whom are minorities. The same administration that is currently in the midst of swindling our police force over an impasse in contract negotiations, and now have a union-busting campaign against the grad students.

This issue is larger and more complicated than Mr. Epstein's arguments claim. The issue is about a commitment to an ideology of moral, ethical, and economic power that our University clearly does not have. Unions serve as part of a system of checks and balances principled in our national democratic system, ensuring that power doesn't become centralized in the hands of a select few who have no responsibility to the rest of their community. Case in point: the current Tufts Administration.

Mr. Epstein perpetuates the University's attitude that the pro-union graduate students aren't intelligent or capable enough to begin a labor struggle for themselves. I question, "Who appears to be a puppet now?" as Mr. Epstein ridiculously charges that it is all a plot by the United Auto Workers union to infiltrate our ranks.

As Tiffany Magnolia stated in her letter Jan. 24 letter to the Daily, not only is the effort to unionize heavily supported, but it also was inspired at the grassroots level.

Grad Students at this school and across the nation are facing problems. Mr. Epstein rants and raves about the pro-union majority not listening to his voice, but he is clearly not listening to his own peers' issues. Mr. Epstein's paranoid self-centeredness is as astounding as his rhetoric. But of all logical crimes committed by Mr. Epstein, the worst is simply that he doesn't offer a single solution or idea to help his fellow students.

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) is dependant on the whims and moods of the University. There is no clause requiring that its recommendations be followed. If there were, even the pro-union movement would probably feel differently about their attempt to unionize. If the University likes, it can choose to be generous. The GSC cannot force a change. And currently, the administration does not choose to be decent. At least Carl Martin is attempting to deal with this power issue.

However, in using only emotional, sensationalistic, "can't we all just get along" clichés, Mr. Epstein imitates the very sentimentalism he attempts to mock.

The right to mobilize does not come without its complications. The pro-union side is intelligent enough to admit these complications and attempt to work through them instead of romanticizing the current structure, as Mr. Epstein does. Mr. Epstein levies the threat of leaving behind 10 percent of grad student relationships with the faculty. If Mr. Epstein did not suffer so much under the myth of the administration, he would reason that the current system is leaving behind and silencing a far larger percentage.

Close to 40 percent of grad students are now unionized. With numbers such as these, it is clearly more than self-centered or whimsical desires that are causing the movement. Some of the universities across the country that have established grad student unions or are in the midst of organizing campaigns to acquire one include but are not limited to: Colombia University, University of Michigan, University of Oregon, University of Florida, University of Massachusetts, State University of New York, Oregon State University, Rutgers University, University of Washington, University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Brown University, Yale University, University of Illinois, and the University of North Carolina.

TA's teach our recitations and even classes, tutor us during office hours, and grade assignments, tests, and papers. They are valuable and necessary assistants to our faculty, and to us as undergraduates. All of us depend heavily upon them.

Mr. Epstein claims in his extremely sensationalistic editorial piece that he would like to deal with the facts.

Before the University of Iowa grad student union was recognized in 1996, salaries for RAs and TAs ranked in the bottom half of the Big Ten with no health care benefits or paid leave/bereavement time. Hours of work increased while salaries remained the same. Now RA and TA salaries rank in the top half of the Big Ten and they have health care for all graduate employees and their families. Paid leave for sickness or bereavement is guaranteed and a provision for maximum work hours exists.

Before unionization in 1999, the University of California saw its graduate employees without tuition remission or health care coverage. They were also being over worked as their class sizes increased yet their salary remained the same. After their unionization graduate employees won a 25 percent overall increase in compensation. Graduate employees now have tuition and fee remissions as well as access to required facilities and services.

Most importantly, and this speaks to Mr. Epstein's so-called selfishness of pro-mobilization, graduate employees at University of California won smaller class sizes, and, as a result, more jobs became available for graduate employees. Both the University of Iowa with its established maximum work hours, and the smaller class size clauses of University of California don't "decrease" opportunities for grad students.

They do the exact opposite, assuring more paying positions, as well, I might add, as richening the learning environment for us undergraduates by ensuring we have adequate assistance and attention in our four years here in smaller class and recitation sizes and more access to out of class help.

Safeguards against the abuse of graduate students not only ensure more jobs, but a better work environment for the larger Tufts community. And it does not, at least according to Mr. Epstein's own facts, lead to a decline in graduate acceptance.

Mr. Epstein conveniently told us that the numbers of grad student acceptances at the University of Kansas started dipping in the '90s when he claims a grad union formed. Isn't it too bad for his statistics that the graduate student union at the University of Kansas existed since 1969. Well, that just about nullifies the numbers on which Mr. Epstein bases his whole entire moral tirade. In fact, it strengthens the idea that this dip in graduate admission in the 1990s (referenced also was the University of Wisconsin) is probably not directly correlated with grad student unions. Instead there is a complicated matrix of reasons that explain why these numbers may exist.

Universities always like to paint practices that create a more equal distribution of power and money in their communities as villainous. We just saw it with our custodians. Claims start flying that faculty salaries will fall if the University gives money to the custodians, or that undergrad tuitions will go up if grad student get granted decent wages. Never do they say that their middle-to-high, triple-digit salaries or massive benefit packages will take the cut. Never do they theorize that some pointless beautification meant to brainwash the undergrads into happiness will take the cut. I heard these exact same economic arguments in the custodial campaign. We heard about job cuts, and lack of funding, but this is clearly not what the situation is really all about. The money is there; rather, it boils down to priorities. Tufts needs to change theirs.

Iris Halpern is a senior double majoring in women's studies and English. She was one of the student leaders of Student Labor Action Movement.
Published in the Viewpoints section of the Tufts Daily on 02/05/02 and has been reproduced with permission.