Legal and advocacy initiatives to improve the life of the (International) Students on Campus

 In these days we are keeping on eye on a controversial situation happening on campus: the university "promised" to refund the Scholars (Master and PhD students) with a one-time bonus in April (obtained in May), excluding the post-doc.

This action was made to compensate TAU (Israeli and International) students for the sharp 5% increase in the CPI (Consumer Price Index) in Israel.

What happened is:

• post-doc are not entitled to receive the compensation and they will have to wait till next academic year, where the university promised to adjust the scholarships of all of the researchers (from master student to post docs) by increasing them roughly 5%.
• Many international PhD students did not receive the "promised" amount of compensation, namely the one that one can calculate with the formula that was given.
• A minority of international PhD students did not receive the bonus at all, and another minority got exactly the expected amount.

(See our previous post on this matter --> 

 https://intcommunityvolunteerstau.blogspot.com/2023/05/master-and-phd-students-are-being.html)

What happens now?

We are moving in different directions and we want to raise our voices against this unprofessional and mischievous behavior of the university! 

First of all, we are collecting information; please share with us whatever you know about the issue above, we are trying to understand why the university failed to provide the exact amount of the bonus and we are waiting for their response (and their version of the story).

In a while, here below we will upload a google form where we can keep track of the students who had issues with receiving the bonus;

LINK--> COMING SOON

Additionally, an emergency meeting organized by the Segel-TRFO is happening on Tuesday 16.05 at 10.30, outside the Lunchbox cafeteria (faculty of exact sciences). There we will discuss the issue and how to react to this situation. 

PS you should have received an email on this by the Segel -TRFO.

MORE INFO: SOON !

On Sunday May 14th, at 2pm, International researchers (especially post docs) are invited to attend the hybrid zoom / in person meeting, to focus completely on their situation. The place of the meeting is Room 330 in Sherman Building (Life sciences).

LINK to ZOOM: https://us05web.zoom.us/j/83885687560?pwd=MGFzK0xuVFJBL0JpUUNLY0J0NEN6QT09

Second, we are acting in order to protect the post-docs, as they are the most vulnerable category of workers in TAU. According to the Israeli law, they are students (they received the student visa, it is an escamotage to allow international expert to work in Israel without paying too much taxation for hosting an expert worker); on the other hand, academically speaking, they are post-docs, therefore no longer students. Thus, they are not entitled to have the same treatment or benefits of the students. This means that they are stuck in a loop where not being workers neither for the state, nor for the university (formally), they don't even have a body of representation. This fact is aggravated by the brief average presence of the post docs staying in this university (1-2 years) and the amount of work required to make high quality research: there is almost no time to think about our own rights!

Therefore, the post docs can rely on the Segel (TRFO - Teaching and Research Faculty Organization), the only body that can provide a hand to them. The Student Union* is instead a more powerful academic body, but it is for the students.

What can we do?

The "moral" support in this case is mandatory, as we are all struggling to survive our day in a foreign - and not always welcoming - country, where we don't have the same opportunities and rights of the citizens.

Therefore, don't be shy and reach out other students/post docs and talk about this. Also, join us in our initiative to forward a letter to the higher bodies of TAU, such as the management and the administration, where we will point out all of the issues that we are facing.

If you are a post doc (International or Israeli), you are invited to fill this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdRoxW1U4jZXwu9y9zpVzbGo5rhaNN6z-NjBRLh9gjRrSzTZw/viewform?usp=sf_link

In this manner, we are collecting the various needs and points of view of the community to build the body of the letter.

We have reached 20 people!!! 20 people who want to change the system and we are looking forward to some more! The best would be having 50 or more people signing up the letter and supporting further action.

Your 10 minutes could be a long term benefit for all of us!

The third action is in regard of the dorms (Einstein, Broshim or others). People from the Student Union* are collecting information about the quality of living in the dorms, in the perspective of increase the comfort and the quality of the staying. Not only the International students have to worry about the little ordinary things that stress us out because our homes are not as fit and functioning as they should (considering the amount of money we spend on them!).

The general increase of CPI, inflation and prices of products and housing in particular worries the people who are monitoring these things within the university. Also the dorms are said to increase their costs in the next future, but this does not mean that the quality of the management will.

Therefore, if you are sensitive to these issues, you are welcome to fill this form (created by the Student Union) regarding the Dorms.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZsz4nis9GD6eW25tE4cONrRrwTjdwORJAi37UXBLeyHzNxw/viewform

*what is the student union? LINK: Student Union Explained

 

So far, this is what we can do for all of you, guys! If you have any idea, comment, criticism or initiative, you are most welcome to participate and talk to us!

If we try, maybe we can succeed. If we don't do anything, nothing happens at all.