University officials met with members of the Graduate Employees Union on Monday to address concerns about an anti-union campaign.

“In the course of our discussion, the union raised some particularistic concerns about material (circulated by the graduate school),” said Bob Banks, assistant vice provost for Academic Human Resources. “We spent a fair amount of time reviewing these items.”

The meeting comes a little more than a week before graduate teaching assistants head to the polls to decide whether they want to be represented by a collective bargaining unit.

Chris Oliver, president of the Graduate Employees Union, said intentional or not, misleading data was still presented on the Graduate School Web site and at informational meetings held for graduate students in several departments.

“It’s clear that some of the information they provided is misleading,” he said. “If they’re going to provide neutral information or unbiased information (they should be) making sure that information is actually neutral.”

Oliver added that although the university didn’t see “eye-to-eye” with union members, Monday’s meeting was definitely helpful.

“We had good discussions about some of these issues,” he said.

Banks said the university is looking into the matter.

Revisions had been made to the Graduate School Web site Monday evening.

Meanwhile, the graduate employees’ unionization drive is gaining support from numerous sources.

A letter signed by four Michigan Representatives in the U.S. House was sent to MSU President M. Peter McPherson, just days after he received a letter from more than 25 Michigan legislators.

Under Michigan law, it is illegal for a public employer to attempt to persuade voters in a union election.

While the letters make clear the university did not violate any legal statutes, it did say the approach taken by MSU toward the union “tarnishes the spirit of the law.”

In addition to the letters, the Clerical-Technical Union of MSU, the university’s largest labor union representing 1,900 employees, unanimously passed a resolution urging MSU to “refrain from any and all efforts to influence the upcoming election.”

Wayne Cass, chairman of the Coalition of Labor Organizations at MSU, said the university was making the Graduate Employees Union appear to be “something coming in from outside of our community