Comments on: UM Grad Researchers Get Right to Unionize

By: Anonymous Alas

Anonymous Alas — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:18:33 +0000

This isn’t about “unionizing,” this is the U coughing up a conceptual hairball; it’s not the Democrats’ fault that the Republican Regents are pro-hairball. It’s about rationalizing an obviously irrational situation, a fossil of an earlier time. GSRAs are legally employees, and employees have the right to collective bargaining. Maintaining the status quo would have been ridiculous and probably actionable (oh wait, this is Snyder’s Michigan now, maybe not). Students move back and forth seamlessly between GSRA and GSTA from semester to semester. It’s inane to think the nature of their employment fluctuates in some abstract way while nothing else changes. This is a win for anyone who doesn’t see unions as the generic Enemy.

By: Mama Wolverine

Mama Wolverine — Sun, 29 May 2011 20:31:03 +0000

It is unconscionable that the Regents would make a decision as important as the one on GSRA unionizing with no prior discussion, consideration, or input in a surprise agenda item. This is purely a bad decision-making making process, and completely unworthy of the “Leaders and the Best”. As a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, I am ashamed of the party-line vote. A University should be led by people willing to use their brains!

By: Rod Johnson

Rod Johnson — Thu, 26 May 2011 23:54:03 +0000

Whoa, I just noticed the renaming of the building I work in (EPB) as the Gorguze Family Laboratory. First I’ve heard of it. (We also have a party deck living roof, by the way.)

By: Alan Goldsmith

Alan Goldsmith — Wed, 25 May 2011 17:07:51 +0000

“Sounds like typical Democrat politics to me.”

About time some Democrats starting acting like Democrats in this state and in this city.

By: Marvin Face

Marvin Face — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:16:28 +0000

Tom, this is surprising to you? Anyone who has been part of a board or in other leadership positions knows that you only ask for a vote when you already know the outcome. Unwritten governance 101.

By: Tom Whitaker

Tom Whitaker — Wed, 25 May 2011 02:05:00 +0000

Likewise, no one should ever be shocked that anything on the Regent’s agenda gets approved. The only shocker is when the approval is not unanimous. It is extremely rare that an item makes it onto the agenda without absolute certainty that it will pass unanimously.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:48:35 +0000

Republicans opposing the extension of collective bargaining rights to a new class of employee? I am shocked. Simply shocked. The president may be more concerned with ruffling feathers in Lansing, including those of friend Rick. And given the hair trigger that Republicans have set on education budgets, I can’t say I blame her.

By: Anonymous Alas

Anonymous Alas — Tue, 24 May 2011 18:02:06 +0000

By the way, while it’s nice that Coleman thinks that the U has “enjoyed excellent relationships with the unions,” I doubt that the unions in question would have quite as positive an assessment. The U employs some hardass bargainers, and several units have resisted complying with the terms of some of the contracts with all their might. And you might ask Kirsten Herold about her excellent relationship with her employer.

Coleman’s arguments were used against the formation of GEO, and again of LEO, and similar arguments have been made against the unionization of faculty elsewhere by AFT and AAUP. Yet somehow, despite those catastrophes, universities manage to limp along.

By: Anonymous Alas

Anonymous Alas — Tue, 24 May 2011 17:49:12 +0000

“Fundamental change” in the relationship between GSRAs and faculty is long overdue. Research assistants are treated very poorly in some units here (it varies from unit to unit and advisor to advisor). It’s too strong to say they’re students in name only, but their student side is definitely given a lower priority than their research side. They often get very little mentoring and are essentially treated as indentured labor, with their PhDs held hostage until they produce a certain amount of material. International students are particularly vulnerable to abuse, since they have to keep their positions to keep their visas. A little bit of collective bargaining could help redress this imbalance and promote consistency across units.

Unionizing is not without risk. It’s always possible to make it economically infeasible to hire your members. It’s no coincidence that the massive growth of the lecturer class came after GEO was born. But should research assistants have the *right* to unionize? You betcha. They get paid, they get benefits, they’re subject to OSHA regulations, they pay income tax, Social Security, Medicare; they need that money to live on just like the rest of us. There is no sense in which they’re not employees, except in Coleman’s rosy memories of her happy grad school years–which were decades ago. It’s a different world now. Of *course* they should have the right to unionize.

By: Stephen Landes

Stephen Landes — Tue, 24 May 2011 15:03:00 +0000

RE: GSRA resolution

Let’s see: resolution proposed by the majority with no advanced notice to the entire Board; reluctance to answer questions from the minority; relying on “we must pass this now, let the details be worked out later”; jam it through despite the concerns of the person most responsible for the operation of the University; all this in favor of unionization.

Sounds like typical Democrat politics to me.