Strains of the song “Solidarity Forever” echoed throughout the International Center Library on Friday as members of the Graduate Employees Union sang to celebrate victory in a collective bargaining.
Graduate employees appointed as teaching assistants voted Thursday and Friday to determine whether they wanted to be represented by the newly formed union. The measure passed 662-192.
“We’ve worked really hard and we’re glad that everybody was really supportive,” said Chris Oliver, president of the union.
The union, affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO, presented a petition to the Michigan Employment Relations Commission on Feb. 12 requesting collective bargaining power.
“There’s a lot of work to do,” Oliver, a sociology graduate student said. “There’s 1,449 TAs and obviously in the end we’d like to see everybody become members.”
However Friday’s victory doesn’t mean union members can rest easy. The results must still be certified by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission, which could take up to two weeks.
But some graduate students are still reveling in the accomplishment.
Sociology graduate student Amy Jones, a member of the union’s steering committee, has been a proponent of the movement for more than a year.
“When we first started I don’t think we really realized what we were getting into,” she said. “It’s real now, and to me that’s just absolutely amazing.”
The graduate employees weren’t alone in the quest.
Jon Curtiss, an organizer with the Michigan Federation of Teachers, assisted the graduate employees in their campaign.
He said unionization for MSU graduate employees will impact more than just campus.
“What’s great about what these folks have done is that they’re part of a national movement,” Curtiss said. “The organizing committee, department stewards, teaching assistants - everyone did a tremendous job.”
The university has also been a key player in the union movement, but not without difficulty.
Accusations of an anti-union campaign and letters from lawmakers in Lansing and Washington, D.C., plagued the administration in the weeks prior to the election. Other campus labor organizations have also said MSU presented students with misleading and unclear information regarding unionization.
And while university officials have previously said collective bargaining power for graduate students is unnecessary, they are ready to negotiate a contract.
Bob Banks, assistant vice provost for academic human resources, said although he would have liked to see more people cast ballots, those who did were properly informed.
“We appreciate that folks have reviewed and studied the issues and come and vote,” Banks said. “We’ll look forward to working to negotiate a collective agreement at some point in the future.”
