Yale graduate students begin week-long strike

Yale University teaching assistants in the humanities and social sciences started a week-long strike today, demanding that Yale administrators recognize the results of a union election. The Graduate Employees and Students Organization organized the strike, garnering the support of about 260 teaching assistants. The teaching assistants are refusing to hold any classes this week. Arguing that because being a TA is a substantial commitment -- TAs conduct 53 percent of all class hours at Yale, including all language courses -- GESO claims they deserve a union election, just as any other employees of the University. Yale has repeatedly refused to recognize GESO or recognize the TAs' union elections because officials say TAs are primarily students. According to Gordon Lafer, spokesperson for the Yale Federation of University Employees, until the teaching assistants organize a labor union, Yale will not address any of their grievances. The TAs' complaints include low pay, lack of job security and poor health benefits. Yale currently pays TAs $9,660 on average, which according to GESO, is $2,000 below Yale's own estimates of the cost of living in New Haven. The TAs also hope Yale will increase their health benefits. During a press conference yesterday afternoon, several graduate students spoke about the need for the university to recognize GESO as a labor union. Last month, GESO held an election and voted for the strike by a 10-to-1 margin. GESO also presented a letter of support from more than 300 academic, community, labor and political leaders -- including the American Association of University Professors, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. "Whereas a majority of Yale's graduate student teachers have signed cards calling upon the Yale University administration to hold a union election," the letter states, "we believe that the Administration should honor this request as a matter of democratic principle." In an effort to show the university that the majority of graduate students favor an election, the League of Women Voters will sponsor an election on Yale's campus April 6. Students will vote whether they want GESO to represent them in collective bargaining.

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