GSOC/UAW Has Filed for Legal Recognition!

GREAT NEWS: GSOC/UAW Has Filed for Legal Recognition!!!

Because the NYU administration refused to respect our majority and respond to our request for voluntary recognition, GSOC/UAW members began the legal process of reestablishing collective bargaining rights for NYU graduate employees.  GSOC/UAW members joined representatives from the UAW – including Julie Kushner, Assistant Director of Region 9A and Maida Rosenstein, President of our Local 2110 – and filed a petition requesting legal recognition of our union with the National Labor Relations Board in lower Manhattan this morning!

This is exciting news since we expect the NLRB to overturn the Bush-era Brown decision and rule that we can simultaneously be students and employees.

Filing a petition with the NLRB is the first step to scheduling an election on campus.  An election will give NYU graduate employees yet another opportunity to assert our clear preference to be represented by GSOC/UAW in collective bargaining.

While filing the petition for recognition – with an eye towards scheduling an election – is a significant step toward achieving a GSOC/UAW contract, we must first engage in a legal process to overturn the Brown decision.  It is uncertain how long that process will last.  We remain hopeful that the NYU administration will cooperate at every step of the way.  Based on the administration’s past behavior, however, we should not be surprised if the administration attempts to obstruct the process and do everything possible to deny us our right to collective bargaining.

We will continue to organize and build our Union throughout the summer and will keep you updated as our campaign moves forward.  If you are working this summer or fall, please let us know.  You can email us at gsocuaw@gmail.com.

Here are a few links to some of the great, national press coverage we’ve received in response to our request for voluntary recognition:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/nyregion/28grad.html?scp=1&sq=nyu%20uaw&st=cse

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/04/28/nyu

http://chronicle.com/article/Graduate-Students-to-New-Yo/65273/

Finally, tune in tonight at 7 p.m to Building Bridges Radio: Your Community and Labor Report on WBAI (99.5 fm or streaming online at http://www.wbai.org/) to listen to GSOC/UAW representatives report on our campaign to win back union recognition for all research and teaching assistants at NYU!

Please contact us if you have any questions or want to get involved in building our union: gsocuaw@gmail.com.  To stay updated, please visit our website:http://www.2110uaw.org/gsoc/.

Stay tuned!