The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has decided that Tufts' Teaching, Research, and Graduate Assistants are eligible for unionization and collective bargaining, the Association of Student Employees at Tufts (ASET/UAW) announced at its Monday meeting. The forum was held to address questions and assuage confusion about the ongoing graduate student unionization debate.
PhD candidate Tiffany Magnolia opened the forum by announcing the NLRB's decision, which ASET had received earlier in the day. The NLRB made its decision based on Tufts' TAs, RAs, and GAs' official status as employees. Undergraduate students and "casual employees," such as graders, are excluded from this group.
Forum panelists included undergraduates, faculty members, and graduate students from Tufts and other universities who have had experience with the unionization process.
ASET/UAW member Joe Ramsey was pleased to see high attendance at Monday's forum. "It was great to see such a turnout on the same day that our labor was officially recognized" Ramsey said. "This is the start of an important dialogue on campus, a necessary discussion to improve our position."
The first panelist, Andrew McDonnell- a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science- provided the audience with a brief history of the ASET/UAW.
The ASET/UAW filed with the NLRB in December, and a graduate student vote on the issue is expected by the end of this month. The University is required to release a list of voters ten days prior to the election, and a majority is required for a UAW chapter and bargaining rights. In December, members of the group had contacted 80 to 90 percent of the 400 to 500 graduate students on campus who said they supported unionization.
Sudhit Mahadezan, a New York University (NYU) cinema studies graduate student, described the unionization process currently underway at NYU and the gains that have been negotiated in stipend minimums, yearly increase rates, health care coverage, and job security.
James Shaw, a UMass-Amherst psychology graduate student and president of Local Chapter 2232 of the UAW in Western Massachusetts, also served on the panel. Shaw reinforced the advantages of involvement with UAW, highlighting "legal and professional resources." He also explained that he chose to attend UMass for graduate school because of the better financial package it provided as a result of unionization.
Two Tufts professors also contributed to the forum. Modhumita Roy, an associate English professor, described her experience working to establish a union at her alma mater, a State University of New York (SUNY) institution. She participated in strikes and helped to take the state of New York to court.
Roy refuted arguments that a union will cause tension between faculty and graduate students. In fact, she said, it will help attract students and create a stronger graduate program. She emphasized that the administration "constantly tries to blur the line" between academic and employee issues, and that it must recognize that unions apply only to the latter.
Frank Ackerman, an assistant research professor in the global development and environmental institutions department at Tufts, presented economic figures surrounding the issue. He estimated that the University currently spends less than $2 million of its $450 million budget on TAs and RAs, and questioned how much a 10-perecent increase would really help.
History graduate student Jill Clark and and Senior Sarah Marcus rounded out the panel. Marcus compared the fight for a graduate student union to SLAM's (Student Labor Action Movement) campaign for better wages and benefits for Tufts janitors. "The University always takes an anti-union stand, silencing the power to collectively vocalize," she said.
The forum concluded with a lengthy Q&A session that addressed questions about implementation time and possible tuition hikes to fund the desired changes. Jenny Tam and Jason Walker, graduate students and members of the anti-union group Why Have A Union at Tufts? (WHUT) were vocal during the Q&A section.
Magnolia said she was frustrated by "a couple people asking lots of questions," but was pleased with the forum overall. It "brought a wide representation of people to Tufts, brought many issues and information into the open, and dispelled myths of unions," Magnolia said.
Tam disagreed with Magnolia's sentiments. "To really discuss wanting a union, we need to understand what we are getting into," she said, adding that unionization will have a negative effect on the atmosphere of the campus. She said that UAW affiliation makes the ASET subject to many rules and regulations. "What happens to grad students who don't want to be part of the union? What happens to the undergrads when their teachers go on strike," Tam questioned.
Last semester, the ASET chose the UAW as their union affiliate because of its democratic practices and experience with graduate student unions. "UAW has been instrumental in successful campaigns to organize TAs and RAs at UMASS, UC Berkeley, UCLA and NYU," the ASET/UAW website states. The UAW is currently aiding Brown, Columbia, Cornell and University of Southern California.
ASET/UAW has raised issues of increased stipends, subsidized insurance, and job security, but stresses that once the vote is finished and, hopefully, a graduate student union is formed, a committee will be assembled to poll students and assess what problems need to be discussed with the University.
Daily Editorial Board
This article was originally published on the front page of the
Tufts Daily on 04/03/02