Solidarity Forever

January 10, 2023 6:56 AM

The long road to union representation at Yale (threadreader). Yesterday, after an organizing campaign that can be traced back well over 30 years (eg, JSTOR), the Graduate Employees and Students Organization (UNITE-HERE local 33) at Yale University won the right to representation in a landslide landslide 1860-179 victory. The victory comes on the heels of successful strikes at Columbia and the University of California and is part of a growing movement toward grad unionization -- including elections this month at Northwestern and the University of Chicago.

Bonus: Gilmore Girls

posted by Westringia F. (12 comments total)

At my son's small liberal arts college in MA, the grad students joined the Teamsters, went on strike, and got pay and health insurance concessions from the school. My son is a freshman so the strike last semester affected some of his classes, but I didn't mind. The students deserve to be able to live and work. I was very proud of them.
posted by ceejaytee at 7:44 AM on January 10, 2023 [11 favorites]

The ruling class is more likely to see Yale grad students as human than they are grad students at public universities. It’s incumbent upon the Yale union to use their privilege in the fight for representation throughout the rest of academia.
posted by Jon_Evil at 7:53 AM on January 10, 2023 [3 favorites]

Cynically, I think “less sub-human” might be the better description, if such a difference exists at all. At least, given the stories that seem to come out at regular intervals about abuses experienced by Yale students.
posted by eviemath at 8:10 AM on January 10, 2023 [3 favorites]

Good news indeed! Solidarity, my union siblings!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:39 AM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

SOLIDARITY
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 8:40 AM on January 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is great news!

From the press release linked above:

Workers have cited better dental and vision coverage, more accessible mental health care, guaranteed time off, protections for international grad workers, strong grievance procedures, cost of living adjustments, and increased transparency as just some of the reasons motivating the current organizing drive.

and

“I’ve been looking forward to this day for years,” said Ridge Liu from the Physics Department. “Grad workers need better pay, better healthcare, and real grievance procedures. Generations of grad workers have organized before us, and I’m really excited to finally win. I know our first contract will be one that future generations of grad workers will be able to build on. It’s great that the Yale administration did not engage in the same level of union-busting as they have in the past, and I hope they will bargain in good faith moving forward.”

It's interesting to me to read that Yale's union-busting behavior had abated some - I'm curious about that, and I hope it means they will accept this vote and, as Liu says, bargain in good faith toward the new contract.

It's been heartening to me to see how some workers have finally be able to make gains now, after the most acute phase of the pandemic, after so many, many years of worsening pay and conditions in the workplace. I hope it continues, and snowballs into an ongoing rising pressure to treat workers well for a change.

Thank you for posting this, Westringia F. - I'm so glad to know about it, especially the landslide vote count!
posted by kristi at 8:40 AM on January 10, 2023 [3 favorites]

> It's interesting to me to read that Yale's union-busting behavior had abated some - I'm curious about that, and I hope it means they will accept this vote and, as Liu says, bargain in good faith toward the new contract.

Me too! Though I won't hold my breath....

FWIW -- and this is total anecdata -- it seems to me that Northwestern is not fighting NUGW half as hard as UIUC fought GEO twenty years ago. I'm hoping that that's a sign that universities are realizing that their busting efforts are futile.
posted by Westringia F. at 9:25 AM on January 10, 2023

More importantly, though, a landslide victory like this sends a very powerful message about the seriousness of union's support. The best way to avert a strike is to come into negotiations with the credible threat of one, and GESO will be coming in very strong indeed. Yale best not fuck around.
posted by Westringia F. at 9:52 AM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

See also: University of Waterloo
posted by avocet at 10:09 AM on January 10, 2023 [2 favorites]

So happy for them. They've been fighting this fight a lonnnnnnng time.
posted by praemunire at 10:39 AM on January 10, 2023

More historical GESO documents (threadreader) from academic labor historian nerdosyndical / Zach Schwartz-Weinstein, who also wrote the first link in the FPP and is definitely worth following.
posted by Westringia F. at 5:50 AM on January 12, 2023

Northwestern's election results are in: a landslide in favor of unionization, 1644 to 114 !
posted by Westringia F. at 5:36 PM on January 12, 2023 [3 favorites]