Fellow Workers,
We have prepared a full accounting of last Friday’s bargaining session that is presented below. But the session could be best summarized by a unit member who observed via Zoom:
“The university representatives came to the meeting unprepared, and repeatedly made condescending, aggressive, and extremely offensive comments to try to derail the discussion. Their behavior was unprofessional, and indicated that their goal was not to bargain in good faith, but to waste everyone’s time while bullying and condescending our fellow grad student workers in the bargaining committee.”
The University’s Disregard for Best Bargaining Practices
The bargaining committee spends hours deliberating, researching, and drafting proposals as we know that they will have direct consequences for the safety and security of all graduate workers, including ourselves.
This week, we proposed additional time off for graduate workers that celebrate religious holidays that aren’t currently guaranteed for graduate workers. We also proposed protections against the outsourcing of our jobs – ensuring that no non-graduate worker, or technology like Artificial Intelligence, is used to undermine our labor.
We were met with nothing but disrespect, disdain, and delay from the administration.
Thus far, the bargaining committee has brought seven proposals to the table — five of which the administration has refused to directly respond to. They have failed to provide us with all of the information necessary to pass future informed proposals, and are refusing to follow procedural norms that are typical at the bargaining table.
Most Egregiously…
Scott Merill, as the senior administrator for the Offices of Labor Relations, General Counsel, and Human Resources, is the university’s lead negotiator in bargaining.
This week, when responding to our proposal to protect unit members from discrimination during the hiring process, Merill suggested we would be forcing the university to hire Nazis. He then unnecessarily quoted Nazi hate speech at the bargaining table to “make his point”.
When a Jewish member of our bargaining committee explained that they were uncomfortable with his use of the hate speech and asked that he refrain from using offensive language in bargaining, he responded by saying that our proposals – to expand protections against discrimination – were what was offensive. The entire time Merill was using this incendiary language and comparing our proposals to Nazi slogans, one of Northeastern’s Vice-Provosts sat there and said nothing to stop him.
Take Action
We have been telling Northeastern since our election that we need a strong first contract NOW.
📝Help us get it by signing your name and demanding that administrators commit to bargaining in good faith with a lead negotiator who will respect our rights as graduate workers and our demands to the administration.
In solidarity,
GENU-UAW Bargaining Committee