Since the 1960s, graduate workers have struggled for the right to unionize. But while those of us at public universities eventually won that right, those of us at private institutions have almost always been denied it. The first decision by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to block our status as workers came in 1974. […]
The Daily Trojan reporting today on our organizing efforts on campus, quoting many graduate students about the push for unionization at USC: “Karlynne Ejercito, a graduate student studying American studies and ethnicity who will begin working as a teaching assistant in that department during the next academic year, also emphasized that the desire for a […]
On March 1, faculty, graduate students, and undergrads participated in a national #CampusResistance day of action. Across the country, faculty and students on over 80 campuses stood up and spoke out to reclaim higher education for the public good. Here at USC, hundreds gathered at Tommy Trojan to demand that USC President C.L. Max Nikias […]
Colleagues, My name is Robert Chlala and I’m a research assistant in the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. As you may have heard, USC graduate students are coming together to form a union. I’m writing today to ask you to join us. If you have already signed on, we hope you can help […]
As you may have heard, graduate students at private universities recently won the right to form unions. We’re writing you today to tell you why we’re organizing to form a graduate student union at USC. 1. Together we can fix a broken system. Our colleges and universities are becoming a luxury for […]
Dear Fellow Graduate Student Employees: We are writing to share why we are coming together to improve our working conditions and to ask you to join us. As you may have heard, graduate student teaching and/or research assistants at private colleges and universities now have the the right to form unions and negotiate over the […]
The Washington Post reports on the NLRB’s landmark ruling clearing the way for graduate students to organize unions on their campusesL “The National Labor Relations Board ruled Tuesday that graduate students who work as teaching and research assistants at private universities are school employees, clearing the way for them to join or form unions that administrators […]
From the Daily Trojan: “A report released by the NLRB Monday supported these objections and rendered the original Dornsife vote invalid. The ruling, issued by NLRB Hearing Officer Yaneth Palencia, found that Quick and the USC administration broke federal labor laws by attempting to dissuade adjunct faculty from voting for the union. Though the University […]
Inside Higher Ed reports on the lengths USC administrators are willing to go to stop faculty unionization efforts: “’Provost [Michael] Quick engaged in conduct that was so aggravated as to create a general atmosphere of fear making a free election impossible,’ such as by allegedly suggesting that joining a union would make faculty members ineligible […]
The Los Angeles Times reports: “USC, always striving to reach new heights, is set to cross a dubious milestone: Tuition for the 2016-2017 academic year will surpass $50,000 for the first time.” Read the whole article here.