Watch UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno dismiss outright grad students' demands for basic sick leave during a global pandemic. We want sick leave now! Thread
#SickLeaveNow
#SickLeaveNow
This past Thursday, UH Mānoa Provost Michael Bruno ”answered questions” regarding the scheduled fall campus reopening. The entire two hour forum was a lot of Bruno congratulating himself and fellow administrators for a job well done, and very few real questions answered.
Things we did learn:
1. There is no formal mask mandate or policy. We are relying on “aloha.”
2. Housing will be at 70% of the usual capacity. Priority will be given to freshmen from off-island. There is no plan yet for those not offered housing.
1. There is no formal mask mandate or policy. We are relying on “aloha.”
2. Housing will be at 70% of the usual capacity. Priority will be given to freshmen from off-island. There is no plan yet for those not offered housing.
3. GAs and other student workers will still not receive sick leave.
Over 40 ALU members and supporters sent in questions asking whether the reopen plan includes paid sick leave for student workers. When posed with this question, Bruno gave this answer. Full transcription below.
Over 40 ALU members and supporters sent in questions asking whether the reopen plan includes paid sick leave for student workers. When posed with this question, Bruno gave this answer. Full transcription below.
Now, let us be very clear. A short term policy that merely protects workers from being fired for staying home if sick is not the same as paid sick leave. Some departments force GAs who take sick time to make up that time later (not paid sick leave).
This policy also does not protect us from having to work while sick (just that we can’t be forced to come to campus).
Bruno, you cannot gaslight us into believing we don’t deserve basic workers’ rights. We demand accrued, paid sick leave, just like unionized workers at the university receive. We demand it now.
“*heavy sigh* Well, let me be very clear about this, um, and this–this is very important, not only to me and my colleagues on the Mānoa leadership team, but I know to every single faculty. We were all graduate students at one time.
"We all worked for supervisors that expected us to be there when we were expected to be there, and work for as many hours as was necessary to complete a research project, an experiment, um… We all understand the pressures associated with being a graduate student at...
"an R1 research university. Um. We have also been very clear that no employee and no student should come to campus if they are ill. And furthermore, we have been very explicit in our instructions to the various academic units, to every single college and school...
"that no graduate student will lose their stipend because they are unable to come to campus because they are ill. If that ever happens, I wanna know about it. We are going to be very explicit in our plans that will come out next week.
"I believe one–if not more–plans will have, in writing, that no graduate student, no student, will lose their pay because they must be absent from campus due to illness. And so, maybe in the minds of some students that’s not quite sick leave. I would define it as retaining...
"your pay and continuing to be paid even though you are sick. I would view those two things as equivalent. And I think it’s very, very important to be clear about that and we’re gonna make it clear, and we’re gonna put it in writing in the documents that come out next week.”
@threadreaderapp please unroll
