The Cornell Daily Sun had a sadly one-sided, and occassionally incorrect article on unionization in its first edition of the semester, including the false title Graduate Students To Elect Union Reps; we only elect representatives if we first vote to form a union. Of course, the article ignores that there might be any graduate student opposition, simplifying the situation to one of a fight between graduate students and the administration. I suppose, with that view of the world, it is a reasonable jump from Cornell’s agreement not to appeal the election, but hopefully the vote isn’t as sure as all that. Certainly, anecdotal evidence suggests that students signed cards either not understanding that they implied support for the union or in order to get union activists out of their hair.
Also interesting in the article:
Facing similar student unionization movements, Columbia and Brown universities appealed the NYU case and are currently awaiting a decision from the full NLRB.
“If the Brown and Columbia appeal is victorious and we haven’t signed a contract, then we could be back to square one,” said Robb Willer, grad, another organizer of the CASE/UAW.
So, part of the motivation for a quick union vote is to push a union through before the NLRB decides we aren’t actually eligible for unionization. This makes Cornell’s concessions even more surprising and conciliatory.
And, because I’m hoping to push some Google points its way, I’ll mention again that ‘At What Cost?’ is reaching out to graduate students concerned about unionization at Cornell.