RESPONSE: Demand to Bargain Letter - Graduate Students United

 

Dear students, in response to your October 5, 2018 letter to Provost Daniel Diermeier --

 

As Provost Diermeier noted in his response to an earlier demand to bargain, your group no longer has any legal standing to make a demand in light of your decision to withdraw the election petition from the National Labor Relations Board. That decision terminated the legal proceeding and invalidated your group’s status as the certified representative of a bargaining unit of graduate assistants. It also foreclosed the NLRB from reviewing the evidentiary record and issuing a decision on whether the Regional Director in Chicago properly resolved the numerous issues raised by the University during the hearing that followed the filing of the election petition.

 

Your group no longer has any legal status as the certified representative of any graduate teaching or research assistants, and the University will not negotiate with your group or otherwise recognize it as a labor union.

 

However, as part of the University’s commitment to meaningful dialogue and a free exchange of ideas with the entire population of graduate students, we encourage you to provide your insights as members of the graduate student community through our established, recognized channels – the elected Graduate Council, your local deans’ councils and advisory boards, and the newly formed Committee on Graduate Education.

 

We encourage you to get involved in these organizations and work directly with us to improve the lives of graduate students.

 

Sincerely,

Brett Leibsker
Director, Employee & Labor Relations