A while ago someone asked about TQM and universities. The attached
posting from another discussion list may be of interest, particularly
with respect to 1) work restructuring; 2) the role of unions; and 3)
privatization. The description also makes clear how necessary it is
to separate the "soft" components of work reorganization such as
worker flexibility from the "hard" or engineering components such as
piece rates (however labelled, e.g., "pay for performance") and other
quanitief "outcomes."
For anyone interested, Heinz Klein and I have just published a paper
on TQM, "Social Contract and Social Control in NetWORKing: TQM and the
Control of Work in the United States." I'd be happy to forward hard or
email copies.
Phil Kraft
Department of Sociology
Binghamton University
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
========Forwarded post from activism.misc.progressive========
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
A CALL FOR SOLIDARITY WITH THE STRIKE AT
UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA METROPOLITANA IN MEXICO CITY
This is a call for solidarity with the striking academic and
administrative workers at Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in
Mexico City. This is one of the first major strikes in Mexico in
the wake of NAFTA implementation and the Chiapas uprising, and at
stake is the effort to stop the restructuring of the Mexican
educational system according to neoliberal, "free trade"
principles. This is not just a solidarity issue, but also one that
touches closely those involved in the educational system in the
United States, Canada and elsewhere, where the pressures for
"restructuring" are already at work, and where Mexico represents a
testing ground for low wage, high pressure, "flexible" labor market
practices.
The strike is organized by Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores
de la Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana de Mexico (the second
largest public university in Mexico). This is a mixed independent
union, which incorporates both academic and administrative
personnel, for a total of about 7,000 members (about half academic
and half administrative) who work in the three Mexico City
campuses: Iztapalapa, Azcapotzalco and Xochimilco.
According to the union (see the union's statement below), the key
issues at hand are:
a) improve upon the "salary ceiling" ("tope salarial") of 7%
increment imposed by the federal government for all public
employees in 1994 (the academic sector is offered only 5%).
Given that the official annual inflation rate last year was 9%,
this "raise" represents a fall in real income of 2% compared to a
year ago (and more, if the unofficial estimates of higher inflation
are true), which deepens the dramatic fall in real salaries in
recent times. (Average real academic salaries dropped about 60%
during the 1980s). The second, related, issue is
b) stop the shift toward a new reorganization of the work
process (based on piece-work) proposed by the university
without union approval and ignoring the collective agreement.
The background to this demand is as follows. Following the huge
fall in academic salaries during the 1980s, the recent strategy has
been to partially replace the lost income through bonuses of
different types. Detailed scales based on number of courses taught,
number of paper presentations, number of publications and so forth
now determine a significant part of the academic income, whereas
the base salary remains low. Given that many Mexican academics
usually work in various places at the same time, just to be able to
survive, this new system imposes impossible stress and effort, and
by quantifying everything, severely affects the quality of academic
activities. Moreover, only a fraction of the academic workers can
benefit from these bonuses, which contributes to growing salary
inequalities.
This reorganization of the work process has been handled outside
the university-union channels (hence the union's call to go back to
university-union "bilateralism"), and basically imposed by the
university at the individual level. It is, in a way, a step toward
privatization of public universities, through purposeful erosion of
the collective agreement.
The erosion of this particular collective agreement follows the
general tendency under recent Mexican neoliberal restructuring,
consolidated now by NAFTA, to:
a) "flexibilize" the work force through aggressive rewriting (or
nullification) of agreements;
b) sidestepping (or destroying) independent labour unions such as
that one at UAM; and
c) segment and divide and weaken the workers; in this case, pit
the academics against the administrative personnel, all
members of the union.
The strike at UAM commenced February 1. At this time (February 19)
there are several other universities in strike due to similar
demands in various states: Oaxaca, Durango, Baja California, Estado
de Mexico (Chapingo), and an agricultural university in Michoacan.
The past Monday 14, following a protest in front of the Mexican
Stock Market (Bolsa Mexicana de Valores), a group of UAM strikers
forced themselves into a nearby hotel room where the rector of UAM
was meeting to discuss strike issues with non-elected academics
(after refusing to meet with union representatives). The strikers
questioned the rector as to the response to their demands. The
rector, rather than responding, fled precipitously toward the
street and was persecuted several hundred meters by vocal strikers
who called upon him to respond, but who did not attack him
physically (this is the union's version, supported by the evidence;
the rector argues he was attacked...). In any case, following this
incident, the university stopped all negotiations for a few days
and started a strong anti-union campaign in the press.
On February 20 the university authorities came back to the
negotiating table and have demonstrated willingness to address the
issues. The negotiations continue.
This is a call for concerned academics and other workers in Canada,
the United States and elsewhere to show solidarity with the
striking university workers in Mexico. At this stage we can offer
our moral support and solidarity. If the strike prolongs itself,
and the union faces a protracted strike, we may be called to assist
financially.
Please join in the call of support for the striking workers (a
union leader has reported that the international solidarity they
are receiving has been tremendously motivating). You can E-mail
your name to me (Ricardo Grinspun - [EMAIL PROTECTED]; please DO
NOT RESPOND TO THE LIST TO AVOID CLUTTER) and I will fax the list
of people supporting to the union, or you can send them a fax
directly to their headquarters: 011-52-5-532-1304 (they do not have
an e-mail address). Please consider approaching your union or other
relevant organization to take a position on this issue, and
perhaps, if the need arises later, to contribute financially.
For further information, contact Ricardo Grinspun, Department of
Economics-Vari Hall, York University, North York, Ontario Canada
M3J 1PE. Phone: (416) 736-5083. Fax: (416) 736-5987. E-mail:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fax for Sindicato Independiente de Trabajadores de la UAM:
011-52-5-532-1304
====End of forwarded post===
