{"id":44878,"date":"2016-11-01T16:43:06","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T21:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=44878"},"modified":"2016-11-01T16:43:06","modified_gmt":"2016-11-01T21:43:06","slug":"grad-students-negotiate-right-to-unionize-for-more-rights-work-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/grad-students-negotiate-right-to-unionize-for-more-rights-work-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Grad students negotiate right to unionize for more rights, work benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Meredith Francis<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a dimly lit, Gothic-style church on the University of Chicago\u2019s Hyde Park campus, several dozen graduate students are taking small steps to make big changes by going old school: forming a legally recognized union.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work we do isn\u2019t recognized as a very important part of keeping the university going,\u201d said Claudio Sansone, a member of Graduate Students United<\/a> and third-year comparative literature doctoral candidate at U of C.<\/p>\n

The U of C graduate students are part of a larger push at private universities across the country to form federally recognized unions. The National Labor Relations Board ruled in August<\/a> that graduate students are now also considered workers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Previously, they were only considered students, though many graduate students argue because they teach undergraduate classes, conduct research and perform other graduate assistant duties, they should also be considered employees.<\/p>\n

Matilda Stubbs, an anthropology doctoral candidate at Northwestern University, said she\u2019s always had to pay employment taxes on wages or stipends she receives, but, as a single mother, wasn\u2019t eligible for certain benefits, like the Family Medical Leave Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that we\u2019re legally recognized thanks to the vote from the NLRB, our employment category has shifted,\u201d Stubbs said. \u00a0\u201cOur number of privileges that we potentially qualify for has grown.\u201d<\/p>\n

But both U of C and Northwestern administrations don\u2019t want graduate students to unionize. And for Northwestern, it\u2019s not a new issue, as non-tenured faculty and Northwestern football players have also tried unsuccessfully to unionize. After NLRB decision, Northwestern officials said unionization and collective bargaining \u201care not the appropriate methods to address graduate student concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDays after the NLRB decision came, [Northwestern] had a multipage website <\/a>that is very anti-union, essentially absolutely discouraging us from recognizing our own labor,\u201d Stubbs said.<\/p>\n

And the U of C administration questions<\/a> whether a \u201clabor union would advance or impede students\u2019 overall educational goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students at both schools claim the universities haven\u2019t adequately listened to their call for improved health care, child support, support for workplace grievances and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, I got paid six months late, and there wasn\u2019t anything I could do besides continually asking, \u201cHas that paperwork gone through yet?\u2019 \u201d said Matt Vanderpoel, a fifth-year divinity doctoral candidate at U of C.<\/p>\n

But even without legally recognized unions, students have had some success. Both Northwestern and U of C students were able to get improved child-care benefits for graduate students who are parents, including better day care facilities and more private spaces for breastfeeding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not perfect, but it\u2019s a step in the right direction,\u201d Stubbs said.<\/p>\n

\"A
A group of University of Chicago students called Graduate Students United recently met to discuss next steps towards unionization. (Meredith Francis\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And although GSU has had a presence on U of C\u2019s campus since 2007, without a federally recognized union, getting better child support wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of effort to get even a few things listened to \u2014\u00a0and not even the full list \u2014 was enormous and took way too much time,\u201d Sansone said. \u00a0\u201cWith a union, they\u2019d be forced to sit down and listen in a much more timely manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Northwestern and U of C students still have several more steps before they get recognized unions, students at Columbia University in New York will vote on whether they want to start forming a union in early December.<\/p>\n

Though Columbia students led the way<\/a> for private universities across the country, Olga Brudastova, an engineering doctoral student there, said it was only a matter of time before graduate students across the country pushed to have their work recognized.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe success of this movement might be explained by the fact that the work we are all doing has the same merit no matter where we are performing it, public or private schools, and is essential to the work of the universities we are a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: University of Chicago graduate students are making moves to unionize, despite resistance from the administration. (Phil Roeder\/ Flickr)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meredith Francis In a dimly lit, Gothic-style church on the University of Chicago\u2019s Hyde Park campus, several dozen graduate students are taking small steps to make big changes by going old school: forming a legally recognized union. \u201cThe work we do isn\u2019t recognized as a very important part of keeping the university going,\u201d said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":293,"featured_media":44894,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2941,675,2582],"tags":[3205,3203,3204,435,1394],"class_list":["post-44878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2016","category-social-justice","category-spring-2016","tag-columbia-university","tag-graduate-student-union","tag-graduate-students-united","tag-northwestern-university","tag-university-of-chicago"],"yoast_head":"\nGrad students negotiate right to unionize for more rights, work benefits - 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