Letter from the GSRA Campaign: Allied Voices of Support

We’re writing this week with news from beyond the UM campus–overwhelming support for GSRAs’ right to vote to form a union has been rolling in from all over.

Like tens of hundreds of Graduate Student Research Assistants at UM, people all over Michigan agree on the basic premise that GSRAs are employees and that we have the right to vote. Those in support of our right to vote include:

Graduate employees—including graduate research assistants who have formed unions–at other universities. Here’s one:

 “I am a graduate employee, researcher, and union leader; never has my role as a unionist negatively affected my relationships with my advisor, primary investigator, colleagues, or faculty in my department. In fact, my role as a leader has built stronger and deeper relationships with my co-workers. We respect each other as colleagues and the union provides resources, institutional capacity, and a legal basis for our relationships. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of their interests, and GSRAs at the University of Michigan are no different; they deserve the right to self-determination. “

Yu Sun, PhD Candidate in Mathematics

President, Wayne State Univ. Graduate Employees Organizing Committee

Leading civil rights and civil liberties organizations and advocates; here are a few:

 “The rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively are aspects of freedom of association. The Michigan ACLU supports employees’ right to form unions, and the right of research assistants at the University of Michigan to a vote.”

Kary Moss, Executive Director, ACLU of Michigan

“The Michigan NAACP stands with employees who choose to form unions because the structure of a union prevents discrimination on the job and helps close racial and prejudicial pay gaps. The right to vote is an essential Constitutional right and it should never be abridged or denied.”

Yvonne White, President, Michigan NAACP

“I urge the University of Michigan to continue its legacy of progressive leadership by supporting the rights of graduate students to organize. Over the years U of M has often been a lone voice, challenging the complicity of universities in policies and practices that have fostered injustice. You should not abandon this tradition now.”

Grace Lee Boggs
Philosopher, activist, and founder of Detroit Summer

 

“We support the right of graduate student research assistants to organize and hold an election. Academic unions, including the GEO, have played a strong role in achieving fairness and equality for gay and transgender employees. The GEO has an admirable history of working to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. And, union contracts can help ensure that equal access to health care benefits are maintained over time.”

Denise Brogan-Kator
Equality Michigan Executive Director

Religious organizations:

 “Our tradition teaches that establishing and enforcing the protections of a system of law are among the highest human obligations. Efforts by employees to organize unions are of a piece with this obligation, and no one should stand in the way of those who are fulfilling it. We support the right of Graduate Student Research Assistants to vote to form a union.”

Selma Goode, Executive Director, Jewish Labor Committee

 

“The teachings of all faiths call for everyone to be treated with respect and fairness.  For employees that means the right to choose, in a democratic election, to be represented by a labor union.  We believe unions are essential to fairness and justice in the workplace and  employees should have the right to make that choice through an election.”

Dr. Charles Rooney (PhD UM, 1974)

Michigan Catholics for the Common Good

Allies in the labor movement:

 “We, the Huron Valley Central Labor Council, represent thousands of municipal, state, federal and private sector employees who work with you to make our county, our city, and the University of Michigan run. We are also residents of Michigan who benefit from the research gains you make and the vitality that UM’s research program brings to Washtenaw county. We support your right to vote to form a union, and stand with you against anyone who tries to interfere with that right.”

Huron Valley Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO

UM faculty:

 “Why would the top academic leadership of a university as great as UM side [against GSRAs’ right to vote and] with an organization like the Mackinac Center, which is dedicated to stripping funding and resources from public universities?”

Richard Bernstein

Attorney; UM Lecturer in Political Science

Former Member, Wayne State University Board of Governors

Whatever one’s beliefs about how we should cast our ballots, our right to vote shouldn’t be in doubt. As GSRAs continue talking with each other about our issues and our needs at work, we’re heartened to find that the consensus behind our right to vote is so strong. The Michigan Employment Relations Commission is currently reconsidering our request for an election, and we hope that they’ll order one as quickly as possible.

If you have questions or concerns, or would like to become more involved in the campaign, please contact us at gsracampaign@geo3550.org.