Posts tagged graduate students
Guest column: Union democracy? Not so much
May 21, 2024 // The AFL-CIO Philadelphia Council announced GET-UP may be Philadelphia’s largest private sector union. Nonetheless, GET-UP did not secure — as some overzealous headlines suggest — an “overwhelming majority.” Yes, the 1,807-to-97 vote to unionize was undoubtedly one-sided. However, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reported 4,003 eligible voters, meaning only 45 percent of the total workforce supported unionization. Other reports suggest a lower denominator of 3,700 voters. Even then, that’s only 48 percent — clearly less than “the majority of the employees in a unit” seemingly described in the National Labor Relations Act. Yet, due to federal court decisions that strayed from the statutory text long ago, UAW only needed a simple majority
No, Unions Aren’t Having a Resurgence—and That’s Good for Workers
May 9, 2024 // Introducing more competition to the private sector union business model could help. For that, my colleague Liya Palagashvili suggests ending the exclusive-representation clause that "provides government-granted monopoly status to a union supported by 51 percent of an employer's workers, giving it the sole authority to negotiate. This means that if some workers want a different union—for example a newer one that might raise the bar in terms of what it can offer—they are out of luck." Today, these workers aren't allowed to engage in any negotiations with their employers, and they still have to pay the original union's fees.
UAW Local 4811 Authorizes Strike Vote Over UCLA and UCSD Administrations’ Actions
May 9, 2024 // The union called for amnesty for all academic employees, students, student groups, faculty, and staff who face disciplinary actions, divestment, and disclosure of funding, and to allow researchers to opt out of funding tied to the war in Palestine and offer them alternatives so they can continue their work. In a post on Twitter, the union said, “On Friday, May 3rd, 2024, our union filed Unfair Labor Practice charges in response to UC’s actions against peaceful protesters – including UAW 4811 members – over the past week. It is important for Academic Employees to vote YES in the strike authorization vote to show the UC Administration that this unprecedented crackdown on free speech on University campuses is unacceptable.
UConn professors’ union angers cops with letter defending student protesters
May 9, 2024 // “We need to keep in mind that there are countless ways for students, faculty, staff, and others in our community to exercise their constitutional right to free speech that do not violate University policy or practice,” Maric, D’Alleva, and Furst wrote. “The group assembled did not comply with requirements to reserve the space for their use, the University initially permitted them to remain. At the same time, content-neutral restrictions on time, place, and manner of expression enable a diverse community like ours to share the same space and enjoy equal rights.” “Given the importance of free speech and freedom of assembly in public space, we condemn the administration’s mobilization of the police,” the letter continued. “We urge the UConn administration not to pursue disciplinary action against peaceful protesters. It is the responsibility of the labor movement to be first line defenders of civil liberties, and we stand in solidarity with students and demand that the University of Connecticut honor their right to assemble and exercise free speech.” “The continued anti-police movement continues to result in low department morale, heavy officer employment turnover and a decrease in public servants filling the ranks, not only at UConn, but many other police agencies in Connecticut and across the country,” the CPFU wrote.
Penn grad student workers vote to unionize after 2 decades of advocacy
May 7, 2024 // The Graduate Employees Together University of Pennsylvania, also known as Get-UP, announced Friday that just over 1,900 of the 3,700 eligible voters turned out last week, with 95% voting in favor of joining the United Auto Workers union, which represents several other graduate student unions at colleges across the country.
Around 100 grad student workers and faculty threaten to withhold final grades after arrests
May 7, 2024 // Organizers of the strike are calling for several demands, many of which align with those of pro-Palestinian protesters on campus, to be met by NYU.
Dartmouth graduate student workers strike; Clash with administrators over pay and health care
May 3, 2024 // The union representatives said two-thirds of graduate student members are rent-burdened and need better health care benefits.
Syracuse University student employees vote to unionize
April 30, 2024 // More than 1,000 students who work for the school on an hourly basis voted to join the SEIU Local 200 United. This includes mostly graduate and undergraduate students working in the school's food services and libraries.
Another MIT Grad Student Hits GSU Union with Federal Labor Charges for Illegally Seizing Money for Radical Union Agenda
April 29, 2024 // According to Boukin’s charges, she and other graduate students resigned their memberships in the GSU union, revoked their dues “checkoff” authorizations, and objected under Beck to paying anything going toward GSU’s “political and non-representational agenda and expenditures.” Despite these requests, the charges note, union bosses have “refused to process those Beck objections, refused to immediately reduce the amount of dues and fees collected from Charging Party’s and other graduate students’ [compensation], refused to stop the dues checkoff, and refused to provide Charging Party” with an independent audit explaining the union’s expenses and reduced fee calculation.
Wesleyan Grad Students Move to Unionize
April 25, 2024 // Graduate students at Yale had their union recognized in January 2023, and Harvard graduate students had their first contract with the administration in January 2021. UConn has had a graduate and postdoc union since 2013. Sagarian said one of the biggest drivers for the Wesleyan students to unionize was the issue of pay equity across departments. Sagarian said that the graduate students in music have historically tended to make less than graduate students in other departments.