No graduate student union

[SSHoya]

www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/12/06/georgetown-university-refuses-to-recognize-graduate-student-union/?hpid=hp_local-news_georgetown-922pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.b882816ae535

[RusskyHoya]

I suppose it's important to offer an update on this.

On Nov. 9, Georgetown University and the Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) announced results of an election held on Nov. 5-8, 2018 that gave approximately 1,100 graduate student assistants an opportunity to vote for union representation. Of the approximately 1,100 graduate student assistants eligible to vote, the count was 555-108, with the majority in favor of unionization. The American Arbitration Association (AAA), a neutral third party that conducted the election, has reported the election results, and will issue a final certification following a two-week period outlined in the election agreement.

Georgetown University joined the Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE) and American Federation of Teachers (the national union with which GAGE has affiliated) to issue the following statement:

“We have a shared belief in the important role that graduate student assistants play at Georgetown and a shared commitment to giving them a stronger voice as members of our community. We are encouraged that many graduate student assistants made their voices heard. We look forward to working together to continue efforts to improve the graduate student experience at Georgetown.”

www.georgetown.edu/gradunion

Media coverage can be found in, among other places, The Voice, Inside Higher Ed, and the Boston College student paper.

[RusskyHoya]

Next up on the unionization train: RAs

[RusskyHoya]

[RusskyHoya]

georgetownvoice.com/2024/04/14/in-support-of-ra-unionization-at-georgetown/

GRAC would not be the first union of its kind. A 2016 decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that undergraduate workers at private universities could be classified as employees with unionization rights. Since then, RAs across the country have turned to unionization as a way to secure meaningful protections and support from universities. OPEIU, the union representing GRAC, has helped RAs at Wesleyan, Barnard, Tufts, and most recently Emerson College win successful contracts with their universities.

GRAC’s primary demands include improved accountability for supervisors and the creation of a more equitable compensation structure. Other demands include access to mental health resources, better staffing ratios, the ability to study abroad, and compensation for currently unpaid trainings.

According to GRAC, Community Directors (CDs) —RAs’ direct supervisors—have inconsistently and unfairly enforced Residential Living policies, leading to the arbitrary and wrongful termination of a small number of RAs. Thus, GRAC is demanding the creation of a formal grievance process for RAs to report potential misconduct by CDs.

GRAC has also drawn attention to Georgetown’s inequitable compensation structure, which does not allow RAs who receive financial aid to receive the full amount they have earned. While some students receive full compensation (about $20,000) for being an RA, others receive less than $1,000 for performing the same job. GRAC is demanding the current compensation system be replaced with an equally large, direct stipend—a compensation structure that has been implemented at other universities including Johns Hopkins and Northwestern.

[RusskyHoya]

[DFW HOYA]

Question from a right to work state: if you are one of three RAs that do not want to be in a union, are you now fired?

[SSHoya]

Apr 16, 2024 18:38:08 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

Question from a right to work state: if you are one of three RAs that do not want to be in a union, are you now fired?

My LL.M. in Labor Law from GULC is now 40 years stale but here is an answer. It may even be correct!

In “open shops” labor law requires the union to represent the entire bargaining unit, regardless of whether all the employees are members of the union.

You are not fired but a free rider in right-to-work states and other states as well.

A union’s collective bargaining agreement usually contains the type of “shop” that covers the workplace as well as many other substantive terms that affect the rights of non-members. Millions of workers who have elected not to join unions are still covered by collective bargaining agreements negotiated by a labor organization. While many of these people will be required to pay bargaining-related fees and dues to the union that negotiated on their behalf, most of the non-union members covered by collective bargaining agreements who live in right-to-work states will not.