Despite recent legal decisions against graduate student unionization, groups at Yale University and Columbia University have recently renewed their commitment to the cause.
The Yale Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO) obtained a majority vote at its membership meeting in favor of graduate student unionization. The vote, which polled graduate students who taught classes in the fall semester of 2004, now gives Yale the opportunity to acknowledge the group as a formal union -- if it chooses to do so.
"I believe that this decision should show graduate teachers across the country that instead of giving up, we need to continue and push forward," said GESO organizer Rachel Sulkes. "The movement is growing."
Some graduate students at Penn have also been working toward unionization. Last February, Graduate Students Together- University of Pennsylvania staged a two-day strike in an attempt to obtain formal recognition from the University.
Although any group of graduate students has the ability to be voluntarily considered a union by the school, many school officials are not ready to confirm that status. Yale President Richard Levin has stated that the school is not planning on awarding the group that status.
"We regard their teaching experience as part of their training and education to pay professors," Levin told The Yale Daily News.
Two days after the Yale decision, Columbia University graduate students voted to seek a similar status in their membership meeting.
Both of these decisions follow a July 15 ruling by the National Labor Relations Board stating that graduate students do not have the right to unionize.
Under the NLRB decision, "it is still legal for us to have a union," GET-UP co-chairwoman Sayumi Takahashi. "It just means that a potential union would not be protected under the National Labor Relations Act."
"I believe [the Yale vote] completely deems the NLRB decision out of sync with reality and what is happening across the country," Sulkes added.
Although the votes at Columbia and Yale could have a direct impact at their respective schools, these decisions may also affect other unionization efforts across the country.
"Our hope is that by drawing attention to the issue, the momentum will really start to pave the way for efforts at other universities and will show people that there is a way to organize," said Sulkes.
Though GET-UP members have similar opinions regarding the ripple effect of the Yale and Columbia decisions, the Penn administration believes it has already taken steps to improve the quality of graduate student education.
"The president and provost continue to work closely with GAPSA and GSAC to improve the graduate student experience at Penn, and we don't need a third party to do that," University spokeswoman Lori Doyle.
