Instructors defy orders, move U classes off campus to support strikers

University of Minnesota English Prof. Paula Rabinowitz stood in a Baptist church sanctuary just off campus Thursday afternoon, knowing school administrators wouldn't be happy as about 200 students filed in and plunked themselves down on piano benches and pews stacked with hymnals.

But in a show of support for striking union workers Rabinowitz, chairwoman of the English Department, defied university administrators and moved her class to the church across the street from the school's boundary. She is among several instructors who challenged a direct order to keep classes on campus or face disciplinary action.

"My work is to talk to students," she told the class. "Where it happens is not an issue."

Thursday marked the second day of protest by one-third of about 3,150 technical, clerical and health-care workers represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The biggest issue is a battle over wages, with union officials unhappy with the university's proposed 2.25 and 2.5 percent raises, saying they don't keep up with inflation. University officials maintain that when service anniversary step increases of 2 percent are considered, the offers are fair.

Union officials said that instructors have contacted AFSCME for help finding off-campus space for nearly 120 class sections, impacting an estimated 4,000 students out of more than 50,000 on campus. AFSCME member Jess Sundin said the union knows of about 30 classes that already found off-campus accommodations.

In addition, she said, many instructors have found locations ranging from nearby coffee shops to community theaters without the union's help.

At the peak of a union strike in 2003, about 4,000 students had class off campus, Sundin said.

In a letter to faculty members, teaching assistants and teaching staff dated Aug. 29, Provost E. Thomas Sullivan made it clear that classes should not be moved off campus.

"Every faculty member, graduate assistant and employee who is scheduled to teach, is expected to hold their classes, and to hold them on campus as originally scheduled," he wrote. "University employees who refuse to report to work as directed are considered under state law to be engaged in an illegal sympathy strike and are subject to discipline."

Rabinowitz said talk of discipline for relocating classes was "contradictory" to the university's intellectual mission.

In an interview, Sullivan said students have told him they were upset about relocating classes.

"We all have to be mindful and respectful of students' wishes," he said. "We want to encourage [free thought]. That's what this university is all about. On the other hand, there are academic and professional and legal responsibilities that we all have."

In his letter, he said off-campus locations could pose accessibility and liability issues.

Sullivan's directive to stay on campus is similar to instructions that teaching staff received during the 2003 strike, Sundin said. But the 2003 instructions did not invoke the Public Employment Labor Relations Act, which gives the university a legal basis to discipline, she said. The act requires university employees to report to work in the event of a strike by another union, Sullivan wrote in his letter.

"This year it's a less-veiled threat," Sundin said.

The warning doesn't carry equal weight among the university's teaching staff, worrying vulnerable graduate students more than tenured professors who have greater protection. That hasn't stopped the former from relocating classes, said Meredith Gill, a graduate student and teacher.

"It is scary," said Gill, who held her Issues in Cultural Pluralism class in the church lounge Thursday afternoon. "We could lose our jobs. ... I feel that the struggles of AFSCME are the same struggles of the graduate students. We are also underpaid and overworked."

Carl Flink, associate dance professor and director of dance in the Department of Theater Arts and Dance, said he also used the strike as a teaching opportunity. Flink held two classes off campus Wednesday. His students ran from the West Bank to the East Bank, performing dance moves along the way as strikers cheered.

"I did make sure to use the time to talk with [the students] about the complexities of the issue," Flink said. "It's not us against [the administration] or them against us."

Lisa Norling, an associate professor in the History Department, let her 50 students choose between moving off campus for the duration of the strike, relocating for one class session next week or staying on campus. In a secret ballot, most voted to relocate for one session, she said, adding that she'll meet on campus with students who voted against moving off for the one session..

Many students said they didn't mind relocating, although sophomore Amy Erickson said she heard a few peers grumbling about paying money to sit in off-campus buildings.

"I didn't really mind because I respect what my teacher is trying to do," Erickson said as she left Rabinowitz's class. "[Strikers have] raised a lot of awareness. I respect them for it."

Mirroring many students' experience, Erickson said less than half of her classes -- two out of five -- have relocated.

Senior Erin Durkee, a union supporter, said the strike hasn't hindered her ability to accomplish daily activities but noted that the picketers' presence is noticeable.

"The main point of the picket is to create tension and it's there," she said. "I think it's been quite effective."

After class Thursday, Rabinowitz headed to the Dinkytown coffee shop, Espresso 22, where she now holds office hours.

Said Rabinowitz: "The university has always said the university is not its buildings. It's amazing the amount of work you can do without a building."

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