Subject: Re: Important Information about Graduate Student Union Efforts
Hello fellow graduate workers,
Today the administration began their effort to discourage us from forming our union.
It’s disappointing that they have chosen to spread disinformation about unions in an attempt to scare us. Their email is disrespectful to the majority of graduate students who have signed on in support of our union and the many students who have worked hard to organize our unionization effort. Let’s be clear: we are forming a union together, and implying anything else is dishonest.
In the last year alone, more than 30,000 graduate workers have decided to form unions at institutions like MIT, Yale, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Boston University and others. They could have sent out a message indicating that they would respect our decision, and if we chose a union, they would bargain in good faith. The fact that they didn’t is not surprising—we have been here before— but it is disappointing.
What the administration’s email ignores is: when graduate students unionize, the outcome is overwhelmingly positive. Graduate unions have given workers a voice, won increases in pay, created flexibility in working conditions, provided increased protections, and more. Their response tries to muddle the waters by claiming that nothing is guaranteed in bargaining. Of course it’s not, but we will get to control our bargaining: we elect the bargaining committee, we vote on the contract, and we only accept it once we are satisfied with the results (they could choose to make it easy by giving us what we ask for)!
To address some of their outright disinformation— UAW dues are 1.44%, unless members of a local vote to increase them. This email from Provost Madigan is just further evidence of the need for our union. If the university is not going to respect a choice well over a majority of us have decided to support, then it would be silly to expect them to make improvements without a union—It took a major action just to get them to remove sensors they installed to surveil some of us while we worked.
With a union, they will be required by law to sit down across the table from a bargaining committee that we will elect and negotiate an agreement that we all get to vote on.
If the administration proceeds as they have in the past, we expect that they will send out more disinformation soon. We encourage you to get all the facts before taking anything the administration says at face value. We are also committed to sending out information to keep you informed as quickly as we can; if we all stand together, the disinformation can’t stop us, and we can build our power!
If you have any question or concerns, feel free to reply and either myself or another Organizing Committee Member will get back to you — in solidarity,
Sent by department leaders
P.S. If you have not yet signed an authorization card and joined the majority of graduate workers who are working together to improve standards here at Northeastern, I encourage you to do so! You can join here.