Momentum grows in New York City as New School RAs and TAs join colleagues at NYU and Columbia by voting overwhelmingly for UAW New York City – Research and teaching assistants at The New School voted by an overwhelming margin – 502 to 2 – in favor of United Auto Workers representation in a recent union election, the National Labor Relations Board’s New York regional office confirmed today. “We are extremely excited by this overwhelming vote in support of our Union,” said Zoe Carey, a PhD student in Sociology who has worked as an RA and TA and has been an ...
Read more
CHESTNUT HILL, Massachusetts—The Boston College Graduate Employees Union-United Auto Workers (BCGEU-UAW) today will deliver a petition for a union election with the regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Boston. The filing follows the NLRB’s ruling in August that restored collective bargaining rights to graduate student workers, and is the result of two years of organizing by graduate employees at Boston College. “It’s a thrilling moment for us after so much hard work,” said Sriram Natarajan, a Ph.D. student in economics. “And it’s great news for international students like me, to have our voices strengthened by a ...
Read more
Community Petition Urging University Administrators to End Their Anti-Union Campaign Gains Momentum NEW YORK – As support for graduate workers’ right to collective bargaining builds nationwide, more than 60 members of Congress today issued a statement urging Columbia University President Lee Bollinger and other university administrators in support of fair and free union elections. U.S. Representatives Bobby Scott and Jerrold Nadler along with dozens of other congressional leaders applauded the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision to restore the rights of teaching assistants and research assistants to bargain collectively. “Collective bargaining between university administrators and the representatives chosen by TAs ...
Read more
Graduate workers, who have been organizing for the past year, welcome recognition of needed changes from the Provost, Dean of Engineering NEW YORK – In a rare email to Ph.D. candidates, Columbia University Provost John H. Coatsworth announced a number of changes to improve workplace benefits for many graduate workers. The announcement – which includes parental leave, childcare subsidies and changes in fees – comes as graduate workers have been joining together to fight for respect and their rights as Graduate Workers of Columbia-UAW (GWC-UAW). The announcement answers calls for change the group has been raising and builds on previous ...
Read more
STORRS, CT—Graduate Assistants (GAs) have voted overwhelmingly to ratify an historic agreement as their first union contract between the Graduate Employee Union-United Auto Workers Local 6950 (GEU-UAW) and the University of Connecticut (UConn). The union’s bargaining committee unanimously recommended ratification as an agreement that makes important improvements for GAs while advancing social justice at UConn. “We are thrilled by the overwhelming vote in favor of this agreement,” said Gayatri Phadke, a GEU-UAW bargaining committee member and GA in the Chemistry Department. “Our members, who come from all across the world to study and carry out quality teaching and research, worked ...
Read more
UAW-NYU Graduate Employees Approve Only Contract Covering Private Sector Graduate Employees The United Auto Workers announced today the ratification of the contract with New York University which covers over 1200 graduate employees, members of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee-UAW Local 2110, who perform various functions for the university including teaching and research. Once again, this makes NYU the only private university in the country with a unionized graduate employee workforce. The agreement was ratified by 99% of the membership, with nearly 1,000 members voting. “This contract is a major step forward for our members,” said Julie Kushner, Director of UAW ...
Read more