The ballots may not have been counted yet, but the members of Graduate Employees Together-University of Pennsylvania have certainly not remained idle.
On Saturday, the president of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations, John Sweeney, spoke at GET-UP's "solidarity picnic" -- the group's first event of the semester.
The event, located at the Class of 1959 Plaza at 37th Street and Locust Walk, was aimed to publicize GET-UP's cause to the larger University community, as well as to bring together both old and new members for another semester of debate.
"We're still talking and letting people know what the issues are while we are encouraging Penn to drop the appeal," GET-UP community campaign coordinator Tina Collins said, referring to the appeal that the University has filed with the National Labor Relations Board against the prior decision that allowed graduate students to hold union elections.
The NLRB oversaw a vote in February, but the votes remain impounded until the board reaches a decision on the appeal -- which University officials filed on the basis that they consider graduate students to be first and foremost students, not employees.
Yet, despite the "dragging on of this tension-filled side of the process," Collins said that GET-UP's efforts are beginning to pay off.
"I get the sense now that the University community as a whole is more sympathetic to the idea that dropping the appeal is the best solution," Collins said. "We want to build the sense that GET-UP members are a benefit to Penn.... Undergraduates deserve to be taught by people who meet professional expectations."
The event started off with an introduction by GET-UP secretary Elizabeth Williamson, followed by the remarks of Pat Eiding -- president of the Philadelphia Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO -- and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Vice President Jerry Jordan, both of whom came to express their organizations' solidarity with GET-UP.
"We are united behind you -- we believe that getting a fair contract is a fair right," Jordan said.
The event's golden moment, however, came with the speech that Sweeney gave to a cheering crowd of about 50 people.
"This is where I should be," Sweeney said. "We stand firmly to support what you've been doing with GET-UP.... You deserve a lot of credit for the work you do for this great university."
Sweeney also had harsh words for the conduct that the University's administration has maintained in this matter.
"This is a wealthy university, yet it refuses to pay living wages -- it is shameful. You are denied a say in your working conditions," he said.
Both GET-UP members and participants were "thrilled" that such an important figure was able to "take time from a really busy schedule to come talk with grad students," former GET-UP team leader Dan Edelstein said. "It really shows the national importance of our effort, as well as the national pressure that is being placed on President Rodin -- that the only right thing to do is to count the votes."
Rodin's departure at the end of the academic year was also a factor that GET-UP members said will influence their future line of action, especially during the selection process.
But that is not to say that union supporters have lost all hope in a possible change of heart on the administration's part -- even though University administrators have said recently that they have no intention of revoking their appeal.
"We would love to see President Rodin change her mind," Collins said.
Williamson added that "if [Rodin] wants to be a leader and not a union-buster, she can count the votes."
