Go to College, Join a Union!

Go to College, Join a Union

It’s not shocking or anything, but according to a report from Politico Pro, the U.S. Senators from the state of New York are involving themselves in the organizing of graduate students at Columbia University.   This comes on the heels of the organizing at Yale which we wrote about last week in which SEIU and the grad students filed several “micro” unit petitions in an effort to gain several election wins very quickly.

Now comes another typical campaign tactic in the form of using pressure from politicians to elevate the issues and pressure the President at Columbia.

Here’s some of the  letter from the Dem Senators:

In the wake of a National Labor Relations Board ruling last month that said graduate students are employees and may unionize at private universities, the lawmakers urged Columbia to refrain from any actions that might hinder graduate students’ right to do so. They asked that Bollinger commit to an “open, transparent and free” union election process, and that he agree to negotiate a contract should the graduate students vote for union representation.

The senators wrote that Columbia is “fueled in part by countless research and teaching assistants,” and that collective bargaining would help employees “ensure positive working conditions.”