At What Cost?

As I mentioned above the group I helped kick off is working its collective asses off on getting the word out on why Cornell graduate students shouldn’t unionize under CASE/UAW. In the latest fun news, the graduate student government, who have passed a resolution of neutrality on the issue, are planning on hosting a website at which a “static debate” on the issue can be displayed. Each side will get a chance to write in answers to student-submitted questions, and also briefly rebut the other side’s answers. Sounds great – a one-stop information clearinghouse for people who don’t have the time to search through multiple sites. Problem? The proposal designates the administration as the official anti-unionization group. Yet another attempt to make this “students vs. administration” and push under the rug the growing number of students who oppose unionization. I’d be less cynical about their motives, but the currrent president of the graduate student assembly was elected president while concurrently being paid as a UAW organizer, though of course that was not disclosed to the voters, and many other members are also active in the unionization effort. Excuse me if I am slightly skeptical of the grand neutrality of the group’s leadership.