Striking Yale TAs Vote to Unionize

Over the objections of Yale President Richard C. Levin, graduate teaching assistants (TAs) at Yale University held an unrecognized "union election" yesterday on the fourth day of their week-long strike.

The Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO) conducted the vote to determine whether social sciences and humanities TAs want to form a union for the purposes of collective bargaining.

Of the 1,080 social sciences and humanities students in the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), 768 participated in the unofficial vote, according to GESO spokesperson Eve S. Weinbaum.

The vote was supervised by the New Haven, Conn. League of Women Voters and several faculty volunteers.

Weinbaum said 600 TAs voted in support of unionization and 168 against.

"It's a pretty overwhelming vote," Weinbaum said in an interview last night. "We'll deliver the result to the administration tomorrow morning, and we're waiting for them to recognize us."

Yale administrators said yesterday they will not recognize GESO as a third labor union.

GESO, a five-year-old group, has the support of Locals 34 and 35--the two recognized unions at Yale--which include clerical, technical, maintenance, custodial, groundskeeping and dining hall workers.

The self-styled teaching assistants' union followed the vote with a rally at Beinecke Plaza that involved 1,200 students and faculty, according to Weinberg, a fifth-year political science student.

GESO had announced it would strike if the Yale administration did not agree by March 31 to open negotiations. The deadline passed last week and the five-day strike involving more than 350 teaching assistants began Monday.

But Yale administrators dismissed the strike and "union election" as a waste of time.

"We will not be recognizing any student groupas a collective bargaining entity," GSAS AssociateDean Jonas Zdanys said in an interview.

The university has repeatedly argued thatgraduate students are students, not employees."What they're trying to do principally is redefinetheir roles here at Yale out of the realm ofstudenthood, into the realm of employeehood,"Zdanys said.

"The president's position, and the gradschool's position also, is that Yale considersgrad students to be just that--students," agreeduniversity spokesperson Thomas Conroy.

"At Yale more than 90 percent of our graduatestudents come to Yale graduate school for free,"Zdanys said. "Not only do they come for free butwe give them money to live here, which is not abad deal."

The university pays TAs between $9,750 and$9,900 per year to help teach one course eachsemester, but GESO members argue that the pay isinsufficient to cover the cost of living in NewHaven.

GESO members also complain that TAs have no jobsecurity and must pay for their own health care.

But Weinbaum said the strike's purpose isrecognition as a union, not material grievances.

"It was not about us wanting more money, healthcare or benefits," she said. "We went on strike toshow a majority of graduate students feelcompletely excluded."

"The fact is that there was an 80 percent voteamong graduate students to be recognized as aunion," Weinbaum added. "In a university thattalks about democracy and freedom of associationand Lux et Veritas, they're the ones whohave to defend why they won't recognize a group intheir own community."

The strike of around 370 TAs appears to havedisrupted some classes at Yale. The administrationhas not yet decided what action, if any, will betaken against TAs who miss their classes,Associate Vice President for Administration PeterD. Vallone said Sunday.

GESO, which also held a teach-in yesterdayafternoon, plans to conclude its strike today.

The group has formulated a petition demandingthat Yale recognize it as a union. The petition'ssignatories so far comprise 400 faculty, includingseveral from Harvard. Professor of Afro-AmericanStudies Cornel R. West '74, Warren Professor ofAmerican Legal History Morton J. Horwitz,Professor of Law Duncan M. Kennedy and Professorof Law Roberto M. Unger are signatories, accordingto GESO.

Weinberg said she is not optimistic that Yalewill offer concessions any time soon.

"We're not expecting the administration to givein tomorrow or next week or anytime soon," shesaid. "But we're hoping when the immediate crisispasses in a little while, they'll be able to starttalking to us."

But she warned: "We're headed toward a muchmore serious conflict that has the potential todisrupt the entire community." She said a futurestrike might involve Locals 34 and 35, which wouldseriously disrupt the university's functioning

"We will not be recognizing any student groupas a collective bargaining entity," GSAS AssociateDean Jonas Zdanys said in an interview.

The university has repeatedly argued thatgraduate students are students, not employees."What they're trying to do principally is redefinetheir roles here at Yale out of the realm ofstudenthood, into the realm of employeehood,"Zdanys said.

"The president's position, and the gradschool's position also, is that Yale considersgrad students to be just that--students," agreeduniversity spokesperson Thomas Conroy.

"At Yale more than 90 percent of our graduatestudents come to Yale graduate school for free,"Zdanys said. "Not only do they come for free butwe give them money to live here, which is not abad deal."

The university pays TAs between $9,750 and$9,900 per year to help teach one course eachsemester, but GESO members argue that the pay isinsufficient to cover the cost of living in NewHaven.

GESO members also complain that TAs have no jobsecurity and must pay for their own health care.

But Weinbaum said the strike's purpose isrecognition as a union, not material grievances.

"It was not about us wanting more money, healthcare or benefits," she said. "We went on strike toshow a majority of graduate students feelcompletely excluded."

"The fact is that there was an 80 percent voteamong graduate students to be recognized as aunion," Weinbaum added. "In a university thattalks about democracy and freedom of associationand Lux et Veritas, they're the ones whohave to defend why they won't recognize a group intheir own community."

The strike of around 370 TAs appears to havedisrupted some classes at Yale. The administrationhas not yet decided what action, if any, will betaken against TAs who miss their classes,Associate Vice President for Administration PeterD. Vallone said Sunday.

GESO, which also held a teach-in yesterdayafternoon, plans to conclude its strike today.

The group has formulated a petition demandingthat Yale recognize it as a union. The petition'ssignatories so far comprise 400 faculty, includingseveral from Harvard. Professor of Afro-AmericanStudies Cornel R. West '74, Warren Professor ofAmerican Legal History Morton J. Horwitz,Professor of Law Duncan M. Kennedy and Professorof Law Roberto M. Unger are signatories, accordingto GESO.

Weinberg said she is not optimistic that Yalewill offer concessions any time soon.

"We're not expecting the administration to givein tomorrow or next week or anytime soon," shesaid. "But we're hoping when the immediate crisispasses in a little while, they'll be able to starttalking to us."

But she warned: "We're headed toward a muchmore serious conflict that has the potential todisrupt the entire community." She said a futurestrike might involve Locals 34 and 35, which wouldseriously disrupt the university's functioning