Regional Director Decision on Union Election Dates

 

To: Graduate Students, Faculty, & Academic Appointees

From: Daniel Diermeier, Provost, and Michele Rasmussen, Dean of Students in the University

Subject: Regional Director Decision on Union Election Dates

Date: August 10, 2017

 

On August 8, the Chicago Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered an election for October 17 and 18, 2017 to decide whether approximately 2,200 graduate students wish to be represented for collective bargaining by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).  The following graduate students are eligible to vote:

 

All graduate students who are full-time and regular part-time teaching assistants, research assistants, course assistants, workshop coordinators, writing interns, preceptors, language assistants, instructors, lecturers, lectors, and teaching interns in the School of Divinity, School of Social Services Administration, Division of Social Sciences, Division of Humanities, Division of Biological Sciences, and Division of Physical Sciences employed by the Employer at its campus in Chicago, Illinois.

 

The University has reviewed the decision and intends to file a Request for Review with the National Labor Relations Board to ask it to further examine the merits of the case and the propriety of an election.

 

The University’s graduate programs exist to train the next generation of leading academics and to provide students with the research and communication skills needed to be successful in their chosen fields. The University is fundamentally committed to a mission of providing graduate students with the mentorship and training that enables students to create original knowledge and become leading scholars. While the University works collaboratively with nine different labor unions on campus and respects the right of workers to organize, we do not believe a union would promote or enhance the academic values that are at the core of graduate education here at the University of Chicago.

 

We will continue sharing information and details about the process as it unfolds. We hope you will consider all the facts and study this issue rigorously.

 

To view the full decision, please visit the Provost’s website (expired link removed).