Students for strike vote
Letter to the editor
As full- and part-time students at the University of Alaska Southeast, we are writing in support of the ACCFT teachers throughout the state in their decision which authorized a strike. The university administration sent an e-mail to all university students in attempts to turn them against the teachers and pressure them to not strike. We wish to address that letter. Jim Johnsen, vice president of faculty and staff relations, wrote in his letter "there is no doubt (a decision to strike) will cause disruption for many of our students - that would be, after all, the primary intent of the strike." Mr. Johnsen, if someone was threatening to take away thousands of take-home dollars from your paycheck and change a grievance policy such that the arbitrator in a complaint would be the problem in the first place, would you be going on strike to disrupt the students? Absolutely not. You would strike because your employer is creating extremely unfair working conditions that put them in a position to jerk you around at their leisure - make you their puppet.
We and numerous other students on campus support the ACCFT and whatever decision they go with because they are our instructors that know how to teach us. They lead us every step of the way. They put in the 50- to 60-hour weeks so that their students benefit. How many hours a week do you work? The great teachers who put in more than their fair share of work give us the determination and desire to pursue our degrees. Take their current sub-average wages and make them even worse and they will leave. Lose the teachers and the students will follow. Your job will be extremely easy as the faculty and staff relations vice president when you have no faculty left to manage. Give the ACCFT what they deserve or it will just make the university pay dearly in the long run. Loss of accreditation due to sub-standard teaching (all you can afford with below sub-standard pay) will leave a sour taste in your mouth, Jim Johnsen, knowing you helped take the whole UA system down.
The students of UAS back our teachers in whatever decision they make to get a fair contract.
Tim Powers Jr., Jacqui Sarsfield, Rebecca Galvin, Joe Perella, Krista Lee Ozawa, Kathryn R. Wood, J.J. Cunnington, Krista Heard, Glory Banaszak, Shannon Ely, Peter Chordas, Andrew Fritz, Tony C. Stevens, Auguste M. Stiehr, Amy Johnson, Frank McMurray, Malacot Goodrich, Mark Rackley, Andrew Bauer, Alan Gordon, Logan Berner, Felix C. Lee, Jim Isturis Jr., Lydia Hays, Cassandra Milton, Ayaire Cantil-Voochees, Stephanie Wargi, Lily Hudson, Salena Ewing, Gwen Peterson, JoAnne Pootoogooluk, Korey Inman, Sean Nichols, Dan Leth, Jeremy Brown, Kyle Phillips, Chelsee Chalmers, Alex Marvel, Clara Weishahn, Emily Barrick, Vanessa LaRue, Ashley Peterson, Sterling Snyder and Darrellene Karlson
UAS students