A deeper analysis (or rather, my take) on the situation

I was thinking about the situation that is happening with me and the math department today, and I did a more in-depth analysis... I can't say that I am the expert on why this is happening, but I can only say that this is my hypothesis, and in my opinion, it is a good one.

The reason why the crappy training needs to be given is that there is unrest (in my opinion) in the graduate students. They do the jobs because they need the funding, but the amount of work that is expected of them is too much for the rate that is being paid to them... As I had explained with my situation, for $11/hour (taxed), you have to come up with your solutions and alternate solutions (most profs understand that it is ridiculous for the marker to provide his/her own solutions - but there is no policy that states that the professor must) - even though that the prof will most likely create solutions for his students, that will be available in the copy centre. You also have to come up with your own marking scheme - even if the prof gives you the instruction to grade 10 marks per question, you're supposed to come up with your justification yourself. (That's part of the marker's job, I agree). You also don't charge the department for the number of hours you put in, you get assigned hours based on the number of sections and numbers in your class...

The students who get assigned these jobs, they are not being treated with respect - I mean, look at my e-mail response? They don't care about doing a bad job, they are not motivated enough to do their job. I mean, I like marking, and teaching math, but I am not motivated right now with the profs because I am being treated without respect. Solutions manuals help a bit, but most of them are pretty bad, and in domains like linear algebra, the steps are different to get to the end result, so coming out with alternate solutions are a pain in the butt! Also, the training is all about "control" and "discipline" in the classroom. You must not lose control, your students must tremble in fear when you enter the room, and kiss/worship the ground you walk on. Your students must not use cell phones in class. You must not eat or drink coffee in class. You have the right to move students if they are talking in class. If this is in an exam situation, and they refuse to move, you can call security to eject them from the room. What is this, the 1920s? Why don't we have the TA bring a dunce cap to class, and a cane? If a student is out of line, it's 20 lashes?

Bottom line: Archaic methods + overloading work onto markers + not respecting markers = dissatisfied workers.

The sad thing is that there were people who were at the training who were taking down his notes like it was a field of golden nuggets.