• LOCATION UPDATE/UAW Endorses Occupy Wall St!

    UAW Endorses Occupy Wall Street; Massive March Planned Today  This morning the UAW — the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America — issued an official endorsement of Occupy Wall Street, which they deem “a movement for economic and political justice.” (Read More) Community/Labor March to Occupy Wall St! Let’s Keep the…

  • [NYTIMES] N.Y.U. Teaching Assistants’ Unionization Hopes Get a Boost

    [NYTIMES] N.Y.U. Teaching Assistants’ Unionization Hopes Get a Boost

    James Estrin/The New York TimesGraduate student teaching assistants at New York University striking in 2005. Many graduate teaching assistants at New York University and a dozen other private universities are spoiling to unionize, but they have been frustrated by a 2004 ruling from the National Labor Relations Board saying they cannot unionize because they are students, not employees. Now, the…

  • GSOC-UAW Action Update

    As the academic year comes to a close, we, the NYU graduate employees, continue to organize to reaffirm our majority support for Our Union, GSOC/UAW!  Even as the university administration continues its attempt to deny us our right to unionize, we continue to make significant progress toward winning union recognition and being able to collectively…

  • [Sing Tao Daily] 紐大理工高研生籌組工會 為亞裔維權

    [Sing Tao Daily] 紐大理工高研生籌組工會 為亞裔維權

    紐大理工高研生籌組工會 為亞裔維權 本報記者王鏑紐約報道：紐約大學理工學院（NYU-Poly）的科學家與工程師等工讀人員于5月5日向美國勞工關係委員（NLRB）遞表申請成立工會，據瞭解，600成員約75%都是亞裔，而且一大部份是持簽證在美工作或等待綠卡的國際人員。近年全國各個工會積極參與移民改革，但是工會人員指現階段他們只希望專注工人權益，不過他們的權益的確又與移民身分息息相關。 紐大理工學院是全美歷史第二悠久的私立理工學院，現在有600位碩士及博士生受聘于校內的教學、研究、助教等職位。來自四川的化工博士生胡楊說，由於華裔及印度裔學生專攻理工科目，因此亞裔組成便佔了大約75%。 印度裔生化博士生Manoj Ganesh稱，「成立工會除了保障工資、健保及職位穩定，還特別是要保障實驗室的安全，因為我們經常面對危險化學品。」事實上，紐約大學（NYU）本身的工讀研究生工會UAW2110于2002年與校方討論集體談判權，但後被美國勞工關係委員會推翻，紐大也拒絕談判，2010年勞工關係委員會重開此案，UAW9A區的總監Julie Kushner則敦促說，「紐約大學不應該聘請了僱員、給他們工作、付他們薪水、然後說根據法律他們不是能享有全盤權益的僱員。」 被問到目前工作最沒有保障的是甚麼？胡楊舉例說，「我們的工作都是依靠研究經費，一旦老闆經費結束我們就立刻會被辭退，而且更大的問題是必須立刻離開美國，沒有辦法重新找一個工作，職位不穩定。」亦即說，這些高學歷人員的工作權益與身分息息相關。 事實上，即使政府經常宣傳非法移民也享有工人權益，但是非法移民被炒魷魚還會繼續留在美國，只是高學歷合法移民就不可能這樣做，待遇甚至比非法移民還差。 胡楊坦言，美國對中國、印度技術移民設下配額，兩國專才申請十年才能拿到綠卡的人比比皆是，目前中印兩國發展勢頭強勁，此消彼長情況下越來越多人選擇「海歸」。 即使總統奧巴馬多次強調要吸收高學歷人員留美，彭博市長更指每一個大學畢業生應該隨證書附上一張綠卡，但是就連亞裔移民團體與亞裔政客都對這些人視而不見，讓他們成為亞裔移民社區的「棄兒」。胡楊直稱高學歷亞洲人在美國「很尷尬」。 就例如早前的「夢想法案」，建議把16歲以下來美、讀兩年大學的非法移民合法化，但是不少人就質疑為什麼合法來美國念碩士、博士並一直付稅的人不應該比「夢想法案」的人更優先拿到綠卡？「夢想法案」年初在國會被挫，胡楊說，「很多在等待綠卡的合法移民其實還是高興的」。目前「夢想法案」捲土重來，社區人士認為「夢想法案」必須擴大把這些人納入在內，也有些人在想像，引進更多高學歷移民還是非法移民將如何影響10年、20年後亞裔社區的組成與面貌，從西岸到東岸，亞裔政客又會有甚麼取態。 Original publication can be found here.

  • [IHE] Teaching Assistants at NYU-Polytechnic Seek Union

    [IHE] Teaching Assistants at NYU-Polytechnic Seek Union

    Teaching Assistants at NYU-Polytechnic Seek Union Graduate teaching and research assistants at Polytechnic Institute of New York University on Thursday filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking union representation. The petition would create a distinct bargaining unit for the approximately 600 assistants who work at the institute, which merged with NYU…

  • [Chronicle] Scientific and Technical Workers at NYU-Poly Move to Unionize

    [Chronicle] Scientific and Technical Workers at NYU-Poly Move to Unionize

    Scientific and Technical Workers at NYU-Poly Move to Unionize A majority of teaching, research, and graduate assistants at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University have petitioned the National Labor Relations Board to let them form a union, according to the United Auto Workers, which is organizing them. A statement issued by the UAW…

  • We’re All Badgers!

    Our fundamental right to have a union is under attack from Wisconsin to Maine.  The right-wing billionaire Koch brothers are funding a coordinated effort to destroy collective bargaining in states across the country.  Many of you have been reading about the massive demonstrations by public school teachers, university workers, teaching assistants, firefighters and others in Wisconsin…

  • Welcome Back!

    We have an update on the progress of the hearings at the National Labor Relations Board.  As we all know, the road to meaningful historical change is long and hard, and thanks to the NYU Administration’s deep pockets for anti-union litigation, our battle for recognition-something we take to be a basic human right-continues to be…

  • GSOC/UAW NLRB Hearing Update

    We’ve now had a total of three days of hearing at the NLRB. We have been presenting our case and putting evidence on the record, which is intended to demonstrate that graduate students employed as researchers, grad assistants, and teachers are employees and that we have the right to a union of our own…

  • NLRB Hearings Begin!

    In light of the recent National Labor Relations Board decision, the NLRB will begin to hear our case tomorrow, Thursday, November 18th. Once again, we are setting out to make history, this time by overturning the Brown decision and winning back collective bargaining rights for graduate employees working at NYU and all private universities in the…

  • [TCOHE] Labor Board Gives NYU Graduate Students Another Shot at Union Vote

    [TCOHE] Labor Board Gives NYU Graduate Students Another Shot at Union Vote

    The National Labor Relations Board this week reversed a regional director’s decision that had stymied efforts by graduate teaching and research assistants at New York University to vote on union representation. Monday’s 2-to-1 decision does not give the graduate assistants the green light to engage in collective bargaining, but it does say that they deserve a…

  • [IHE] NLRB Steps Toward Grad Unions

    [IHE] NLRB Steps Toward Grad Unions

    The National Labor Relations Board, in a 2-to-1 decision, has edged away from its recent history of rejecting unionization rights for graduate teaching assistants at private universities. In the decision, the NLRB found that the graduate students at New York University who are currently trying to unionize with the United Auto Workers deserve a full hearing…