Graduate T.A.'s Strike At U. Mass

Teaching assistants at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst went on strike yesterday after the collapse of nine month-old negotiations over salaries and health care benefits.

Most undergraduate sections at the school went untaught yesterday, according to Phil M. Cox, a spokesperson for the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO), which represents the graduate student teaching assistants. In addition, many of the University's buildings were picketed, said Lenson, president of the college's faculty union.

"The operation of the University, if not seized, was at least radically impaired," Lenson said.

At noon yesterday, GEO members and many students stagged a rally at the steps of the student union, later continuing their protest in front of the main administration building.

As they arrived at the administration building, Chancellor Richard O'Brien issued a prepared statement donouncing the strike at a press conference inside.

"We believe that negotiations are the appropriate approach to resolving our differences," O'Brien said. "Undergraduate, the course of action GEO has chosen punishes our undergraduate students."

O'Brien said the strike broke a promise made by the graduate students nine months ago that they would not strike.

But Cox defended the strike, saying that the agreement O'Brien referred to had expired and was not renewed.

Representatives of the GEO and the university disagreed yesterday over what led to the collapse of the talks.

According to Cox, the real cause of trouble stems from cuts in the state's education budget, initiated by Gov. William F. Weld '66. He said this has affected the teaching assistants disproportionately.

Lenson said the teaching assistants resorted to striking because they were "simply starved to death" by these cuts.

"If you back up, you see this will be the first of many crises from the drying up of support from the Weld administration," Lenson said.

But according to Karin Sherbin, a spokesperson for the university, the university met all of the GEO's demands except one: it refused to collect fees from graduate student employees who are not GEO members.

Cox said that graduate students were the first victims of the educations cuts because the year-by-year nature of their contracts makes them easy targets.

The teaching assistants receive an average annual salary of $6000, $2000 of which is withheld to cover health insurance benefits, Lenson said.

The average teaching assistant's work load involves two sections containing approximately 40 students in each section per semester, he said.

Despite the trouble at Amherst, several teaching assistants at Harvard said that similar problems are unlikely to arise here.

Assistant Professor of Economics Douglas W. Elmendorf, head teaching fellow for Social Analysis 10, said such a strike would probably not happen at Harvard because the teaching assistants at Harvard are not unionized.

And there is no drive to unionize, said Jonathon M. Crystal '87, a teaching assistant for Historical Studies A-12.

"There's not much organization among graduate students, not much contact outside of each department," Crystal said. "my own experience is that we are treated well and not exploited