[spaceseaman]

I would say that these abuses of power are intrinsic to having power. Also it's usually not the faculty vs the students. If you asked any single faculty member if they would rather

1.) Overwork their students, stretch them thin doing everything.

2.) Have more graduate students.

They would always pick #2. Professors are notoriously short-handed. They are typically not the ones who are outright abusing the power. It's usually the administration tying the professor's hands in these matters.

As a graduate student, your boss is usually the administration more than the professor - especially w.r.t. things a union would care about (workplace safety, wages, benefits, overwork...). Professors do not like to overwork their students - it's just they don't care if you are overworked.

[Fomite]

"As a graduate student, your boss is usually the administration more than the professor"

This is important to note. I have very little control over how much my students are paid, their benefits, their course load, etc.

And, for the record, I do care if my students are overworked. Burnt out students produce shitty science.

[spaceseaman]

> I do care if my students are overworked. Burnt out students produce shitty science.

Good point and apologies for the slight. I suppose a better way of putting it is that faculty are often ignorant of their students' issues / difficulties due to their busy schedules.