When the National Labor Relations Board handed down its decision in favor of graduate student union elections at Penn, it came as no surprise that University administrators were disappointed. At the time, University President Judith Rodin pledged to appeal the decision and urged students to vote against the union in next year's elections, should they actually occur.
While University officials wait and hope for the latter to come true, they have followed through on the action they promised. On Thursday, Penn filed its appeal to the NLRB's central office, hoping that the Board's national officers feel differently about the issue than the regional director does.
The odds are certainly stacked against Penn on this one. The NLRB has yet to rule against a group of graduate students at a private university seeking the right to hold elections, nor has it ever voted to overturn a regional decision on this matter.
But that won't stop the University from trying. It seems that under no circumstances will Penn willingly recognize a graduate union without legal force -- and that is unfortunate.
The movement for graduate student union elections is gaining steam nationwide. Whether or not you support unionization, it should be clear that Penn is wasting time and resources on an appeal that is almost certain to be defeated.
It is understandable that Penn administrators are hesitant to negotiate with a student union, even if it only represents a fraction of the total graduate student population. However, if they are to have any impact on the elections, University officials should be focusing their efforts on an education campaign for the voting public, not on groundbreaking legal action.
The NLRB has made its decision, and the University must accept it. Administrators should step aside, let the students hold their election and cross their fingers in the hope that their anti-union rhetoric pays off in the end.
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