>>> Some of you may have been following the situation at Yale over the past >>>year. If not here's the short summary. Grad students have been trying to >>>unionize and the administration refused to recognize them. Last December >>>TAs staged a grade strike, refusing to turn in final grades. Yale responded >>>with Union Busting 101 tactics and the strike eventually fell apart. GESO >>>filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over their >>>actions. Here's the news about what happened (this comes from a friend of >>>mine who has been an organizer in the English department for a while). >>> >>>-Jeff >>>--------------------------------- >>>>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >>>>Date: Mon, 18 Nov 1996 18:54:47 -0500 (EST) >>>>Subject: Newsflash--NLRB decision ... >>>> >>>>For all you folks out there who one way or another have been following the >>>>progress of graduate student teachers' unionization efforts at Yale, a >>>>MAJOR decision has just come down from the General Counsel of the National >>>>Labor Relations Board. After Yale's threats and reprisals in response to >>>>the GESO grade strike last winter, GESO filed an unfair labor practice suit >>>>against Yale. I, along with a number of other graduate students who had >>>>been threatened, fired, or brought up on disciplinary charges, gave testi- >>>>mony in the case. >>>> >>>>Today, the NLRB General Counsel announced his decision on the case, which >>>>is that a complaint charging Yale with unfair labor practices should be >>>>filed. In reaching that decision, he resolved four major points of prece- >>>>dent: >>>> >>>>1) Grad student TAs and instructors at private universities are employees >>>>and so are covered by the National Labor Relations Act >>>> >>>>2) The Grade Strike was a legal job action >>>> >>>>3) Yale's threats and reprisals were illegal >>>> >>>>4) The case sets precedent for private universities across the country. >>>> >>>>Yale now faces a choice. It can either agree to an informal settlement now >>>>by offering us terms we would accept, or it can appeal, beginning an >>>>appeals >>>>process that could go all the way to the Supreme Court. >>>> >>>>This decision is very good and very important. It extends workers' rights >>>>to a large group of hitherto-excluded graduate teachers. More personally, >>>>it means Yale will have to give back pay and apologies to its grad student >>>>teachers. It means we at Yale have the right to organize, to bargain >>>collect- >>>>ively and to withhold our labor without risking our academic careers. >>>> >>>>There should be a story in the New York Times tomorrow morning, >>>>possibly with >>>>quotes from yours truly, and it will be hitting other newspapers and news >>>>forms in the next couple of days. >>>> >>>>Yeeeehaaaa!! >>>> >>>>--Chris Blair Sandler [EMAIL PROTECTED]
