My name is Anna, and I’m a 4th year in Marine and Environmental Biology and the interim Vice President of our union. I’m emailing with a few updates related to contract enforcement.
TL;DR
- GSWs are investigating major change to Google Drive storage capacity, may violate the contract, fill out this form if affected
- Partial week parking passes now available (200 total slots)
- Know Your Rights training happening Tuesday, RSVP here
On December 18th, USC ITS sent out an email to Graduate Student Workers, undergraduates and faculty announcing that they had unilaterally decided to reduce the available Google Drive storage capacity from unlimited to 100 GB. USC informed only those who exceeded the 100 GB limit, so people below the limit were not even informed of the change.
For Graduate Student Workers who rely on cloud-based storage platforms to perform their research and teaching duties, this limitation may violate their right to adequate Workspace Materials under our new contract. I and other GSWs are investigating the extent of the impact that this violation has had on GSWs across USC. If you or your coworkers’ work has been or will be negatively impacted by this change, please fill out this form.
Speaking of contract enforcement, the Spring 2024 series of the Know Your Rights training has officially started! The KYR training is a one-hour training for Graduate Student Workers to learn more about our rights under our contract and walk away with the organizing tools we need for successful enforcement. The next KYR training will take place on Tuesday, February 6th at 4pm (RSVP here!).
Also, USC administration has implemented the Parking article of the contract, which makes available 200 partial week parking permits (150 UPC, 50 HSC) for GSWs to purchase. Spots are limited, so you may not be able to secure a spot this semester, but you can reapply for the summer and fall semesters! To apply:
- Navigate to the USC parking portal, select “Get Permits”
- Enter your identifying information like normal, but make sure to select Staff / Staff Part Time under Subclassification
- Partial week permits should be listed at the bottom of the next page
Lastly, if you haven’t already done so, join me and hundreds of your coworkers in signing up for membership. Membership is how we build a strong union that empowers all of us to exercise our rights under the contract!
In solidarity,
Anna