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An Update from GSOC

This update on the strike at NYU, today, from GSOC:

New York Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton have written an open letter to the United States Senate, asking their colleagues to sign on to a letter to John Sexton calling for negotations between NYU and our union. GSOC members can aid in this effort by calling or emailing their senators and urging them to sign. You can find contact info for your senators at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Calls and letters from concerned non-GSOC members would no doubt be helpful as well.

The full texts of both Shumer and Clinton’s open letter to the Senate and their letter to Sexton are below the fold.

Dear Colleague:

As you may know, New York University in New York and the Graduate Student Organizing Commitee of the United Automobile Workers (GSOC/UAW Local 2110) have been engaged in ongoing contact dispute for over a year now. Both sides are currently at an impasse in negotiations.

We have long recognized and supported the rights of workers to organize and acheive contracts via a good faith negotiation process. We ask your support today as we urge New York University and UAW to once again work in good faith to reach a collective bargaining agreement on behalf of graduate student workers at NYU. It is clear the University, union employees, students and the City of New York stand to benefit greatly if an agreement is reached and a resolution to this impasse is resolved efficiently and fairly.

Please join us in calling on both parties to come to an agreement in a timely manner. Please contact Bridget Petruczok on Senator Schumer’s staff at 202-224-7401 or Chris Falvo on Senator Clinton’s staff at 212-688-9609 by May 26 to sign on the letter or if you have any further questions. Thank you for your support on this important issue.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer Hillary Rodham Clinton

U.S. Senator (NY) U.S. Senator (NY)

Dear President Sexton:

As long-time supporters of both higher education and the right of workers to organize, we write to urge New York University (NYU) to engage in good faith negotiations with its graduate employees, GSOC/UAW Local 2110, for a collective bargaining agreement.

NYU is a valued and important institution that does much to add to New York City’s prestige, intellectual capital and vibrancy. Similarly, we believe that graduate employees are an essential part of the university community – they perform significant work for the University and deserve to have their work valued accordingly.

We understand that a 2005 NLRB decision, holding that universities are not obligated under the National Labor Relations Act to bargain with the representatives of graduate employees, has stalled negotiations. However, we also understand that nothing in that decision or the law prevents an employer from maintaining a collective bargaining relationship with GSOC/UAW.

GSOC/UAW Local 2110 and NYU have successfully conducted negotiations in the past. It is our hope that the parties will once again enter into discussions that conclude with a mutually beneficial contract.

We look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer Hillary Rodham Clinton

U.S. Senator (NY) U.S. Senator (NY)

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