When a majority of Graduate Workers at MIT, Harvard, Tufts, Brandeis, Boston College, and Boston University voted to form a union they did so by overcoming hard anti-union campaigns. Thanks to all their wins we have a roadmap of the type of tactics and arguments the school admin will try to deploy to stop us from improving our livelihood and university. Northeastern has decided to set a pile of money on fire by giving it to the union busting law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP. However no amount of money can buy them unique or good arguments. We predict in our BINGO! what most likely the admin will say and do, and we have supplied all the counter arguments (i.e The Truth).

  1. “Contracts take a long time…” Contract negotiations last only as long as the employer drags them out.
    • Observed: July 18, 2023. Email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  2. “At Harvard…” Harvard famously ran a hardcore anti-union campaign against grad workers. However, the University broke the law in the first election, and a second election resulted in a victory for the grad worker union.
    • Observed: July 18, 2023 Email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  3. “At Columbia…” Columbia famously ran a hardcore anti-union campaign against grad workers. However, in the Columbia contract, grad workers made massive gains across the board.
  4. Links an old anti-union article from 2016. Dozens of higher ed unions have formed since 2016, the year the NLRB restored the right to unionize for graduate workers. This information is outdated and no longer an accurate depiction of unions in higher education. In fact, almost 90% of the articles linked to on the university’s website are from before 2020. More than 80% from 2016. Graduate workers resoundingly support unionization in 2023 based on recent election results.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers. 
  5. Launching a new student government organization. Administrators will often create a new student group guided by the University to dissuade people from forming a union. This is intended to suggest that a union isn’t necessary. But that is not true. Only a union is able to legally compel Northeastern to the bargaining table concerning workplace conditions like pay, benefits, and protection from discrimination.
    • Observed: July, 2023 Colleges began recruitment for a “PhD Student Council” meant to “be able to give feedback about graduate education, and will facilitate communication between graduate students and the administration.”
  6. “A union will hurt your VISA.”  Anyone working in the United States has the right to join a union. Visa requirements in no way compromise your right to belong to a union that represents you in a U.S. workplace. In fact, international graduate student workers have played a central role in organizing and leading unions at more than 60 university campuses across the US, and no graduate employee union has reported any complications among their member employees who are also international students. If anything, international students face particular vulnerabilities that can be best addressed through a union, such as the protections of a grievance procedure.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  7. “Union dues will cost more than you stand to win.” Untrue. First, we pay no dues until we have ratified our first contract. This means that we won’t pay anything until we see benefit gains first. UAW dues are 1.44% of gross income from the work covered by our contract, and will only be paid by those members employed as TAs, RAs, or in other positions covered by the union contract. Some union locals, like the local in which NYU’s student employees are members, choose to pay a higher dues rate if they feel they need the extra resources. Any rate higher than the UAW standard must be voted on by local membership. Also, ask yourself this: if Union dues are 1.44% – would you vote YES on a contract that gives you less than a 1.44% raise? No, you wouldn’t. No one would. We know the benefits will outweigh the costs because we have the final say in our negotiating. To learn more see our roadmap to a contract here.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  8. Politicizes the Boston Marathon Bombing to slander graduate organizers. We planned a rally on campus the week before the anniversary. After weeks of advertising this event NEU planned a tree planting ceremony the same day two days ahead of time. We respectfully moved our event to the other side of campus. Not being able to adjust to a scheme failing Northeastern went ahead and insinuated we had disrespected the victims. Read more here. We respectfully honored the victims of the marathon here. Boston City Council’s resolution of support specifically condemns Northeastern for this action and you can read about that here.
    • Observed: April 25, 2023
  9. “You won’t be able to individually negotiate your pay.” Have you ever been allowed to negotiate more while here at Northeastern? There’s more leverage in negotiating pay together.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  10. “Pay/benefits might get worse!” All higher ed contracts have led to gains in terms of pay, benefits, and working conditions. To suggest otherwise would be untrue.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  11. Announces intent to challenge the election. We’ve already seen that Northeastern administrators are willing to challenge standing precedent. This would not be a surprise.
  12. “There are no guarantees in collective bargaining.” While there are no guarantees, it would be unprecedented for a contract to enshrine conditions worse than the status quo. You all will have a voice in contract negotiations through active participation and voting – you can choose what kind of contract you want to accept.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  13.  Insinuates GENU is violating the privacy of students. Northeastern in a series of emails tried to imply that they were violating the privacy of workers on campus from the union illegally accessing worker personal contact information. This is untrue. Under the National Labor Relations Act, the NLRB has interpreted the sharing of contact information to be a vital part of organizing a union and legally compels employers to share this information. Northeastern admits they were subpoenaed meaning that a court agreed with the NLRB’s interpretation of the law. If this is how Northeastern responds when asked to follow the law, how will they respond when you ask them to have a living wage?
    • Observed: July 21, 2023 Email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers. These insinuations were repeated in a second email dated September 1.
  14. “We respect your decision, but…” If they respected us they wouldn’t challenge our right to organize at every turn as a stalling tactic. They would not conduct an anti-union campaign condemned by three local municipalities. Read more here. 
  15. Claim they can’t afford to fund everyone if they pay us more. Northeastern will claim that they can’t afford to give us the raises or improve campus. They may threaten that they won’t be able to maintain the co-op program. They could even threaten to fire some of us to make up for the cost of improvements. All of these are untrue. Northeastern has an operating liquid cash position of $300 million. They have assets that are valued at $3.47 billion (a ~$750 million growth from 2021-2022). And they have a $1.5 billion endowment. The hypothetical payroll to each RA or TA in the unit $50 thousand a year would only total $100 million – a little more than half of which is already allocated in the budget. Northeastern will find the money needed to meet us at the bargaining table. Read more about Northeastern’s finances here.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  16. “The admin cannot lie; the union is allowed to.” The school is claiming they are compelled by law to be truthful. All we ask is you look at both of our track records. The fact of the matter is both the union and the school are allowed to lie. Ctrl F + “Untrue” this webpage. Northeastern has demonstratively lied to you. Unions are most often accused of lying by way of over-promising but falling short of a goal is not a lie nor is it over-promising. Our track record includes standing up for our peers who were unlawfully intimidated by police, attempting to bring democracy to decision making that affects grads, and working together to build a community. These are all things we want to, and promise to do for you and with you. And while Northeastern promises you that you don’t deserve a living wage, we promise that we are going to try and get you one. And the success of other unions is a good indicator of what will happen when we unionize.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  17. “We can’t negotiate a one-size-fits-all contract.” Do English majors need to eat less food than a history major? Do TAs and RAs require more or less healthcare than hourly workers? Maybe Northeastern is telling on themselves here.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  18. Links points of view, but conveniently leaves out the GENU point of view. If the University wanted you to have all the information, they would also provide you with the union’s perspective. Any other approach is disingenuous.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  19. “You’ll be forced to go on strike.” This is untrue. First, no one – not even another union or the UAW itself – can force our campus to strike. We need to vote to have a strike and require 60% of the campus to agree that a strike is warranted. Then and only then will we strike, and even so, your level of commitment to the strike is completely determined by you. Also, 99.5% of union contracts are negotiated with out a strike. When strike votes occur the threat of a strike is often enough to make the employer back down, and of the few strikes that actually end up occurring they typically last short durations (e.g. 1 – 7 days). Striking, and more importantly the THREAT of striking are one of the union’s most powerful tactics.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  20.  Any email including the word “adversarial” Northeastern wants to depict GENU and the grad workers organizing that we are ‘against’ the school or our bosses. We are willing to negotiate our contract right now. It is the employer’s delay that has forced us to require a vote. Additionally, many of us are very happy on campus in our labs. We simply want to contribute to making this community work for everyone. The school has failed to do that alone.
  21. “The union will be in every single meeting you ever have with your advisor.” This is untrue. Unions do not deal with day-to-day interactions with your advisor. However, unions *do* assist with workplace issues like harassment and discrimination.
    • Observed: September 1, 2023 On Admin’s Website’s FAQ page announced in an email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  22.  “You are a graduate student, not an autoworker.” Obviously, we are not autoworkers. We are graduate workers. GENU-UAW is run by graduate workers. Northeastern is trying to insinuate that we will be at the whims of autoworkers. That is untrue. By affiliating with the United Auto Workers, we’ve joined together with over a hundred thousand graduate workers, academic researchers, and postdoctoral scholars across the country.
    • Observed: January 19, 2023 Email from Provost David Madigan to all Graduate Workers.
  23. “We’re a family here.” GENU is committed to help foster the community Northeastern has neglected. Our community won’t be bought with cheap sayings; it will be built with solidarity. Employers will often use rhetoric and hyperbole to make up for their inability to create a sustaining community. Co-workers deserve special respect and it is appropriate to feel warmly towards each other. That is part of being a community. However, we are not a family and even in the ways we might be similar to a family, that relationship does not extend to the administrators who underpay us and exploit us in unfair working conditions.
  24. “Absolutely freaks out about workers chalking on the sidewalk.” Read about how we filed a ULP against NEU for retaliating against our organizing committee members here. Read about how Boston, Somerville, and Cambridge City Councils condemned these actions as illegal here. The local NLRB has ruled against us as we expected, but the national NLRB is expected to rule in our favor after the appeals process plays out.
    • Observed: May 2023