Dear editor,
My name is JC. I am a fourth year senior here at CSU Stanislaus. I am writing to express my deep disappointment with the way the administration has treated the students during the lead up to the planned strike on the 22nd. I first became concerned on Tuesday January 16th when the interim president of the university sent out an “informational” email regarding the CFA/Teamsters strike. I felt that the email to the student body was both inappropriate and extremely unprofessional. It was reminiscent of a divorce parent using their child as a tool against the other parent.
The first thing I noticed about the email was its rather petulant tone, epitomized by this statement: “Both CFA and Teamsters have demanded a general salary increase that would result in cuts to programs and potentially layoffs on our campuses.” This sentence attempted to place the blame for any future cuts on the Unions and served only to demonize the faculty and skilled trades workers.
The other thing that stuck out to me that seemed to further vilify the unions was: “If asked, please know that you are not obligated to provide a member of a picket line with your name or any other information.” Do they really think that the striking workers would actually harass the students?
But by far, the most objectionable portion of the email was this: “If a class or service is cancelled, you are welcome to share that information with us via the online reporting form for Stanislaus State so that we can best assure continuity and fulfillment of instruction.”
Ostensibly this reporting form is innocuous. But what is its purpose? Is it to generate a list of faculty members that the university can retaliate against, like J Edgar Hoover did in the anti-communist movement of the 1940s? It seems to me this email is an underhanded tactic to turn the students into tools and use them in contract negotiations against the striking unions.
As students we are here to obtain an education, expand our minds, and learn to make our own decisions-not be forced to choose sides. It is the administration’s job to work honestly with the party across the negotiating table. Instead, it appears that the administration is using students as pawns. This shows a lack of respect for the student body as a whole and that the university is not negotiating in good faith. I believe the administration should be ashamed.
Some students will choose to support the university. Some will undoubtedly support the union. For me, it’s not about supporting the administration or the union. It’s about allowing all students the opportunity to decide for themselves, rather than being intimidated and pressured into supporting the administration’s position.
JC
