Dozens of NYU employees rallied in front of Bobst Library yesterday to seek union recognition from the university.
The Graduate Student Organizing Committee and United Auto Workers Local 2110, the unions representing NYU graduate employees and adjuncts, have been trying to garner university recognition for years. This summer, the students took their case to the National Labor Relations Board.
"We are here to say, once again, that we have a right as a union," GSOC member John Freudenthal said.
According to union members, NYU changed health care providers multiple times and made 10 percent budget cuts across all departments.
"Having stability in health care is important because we need to rely on the health care we're given," Freudenthal said.
According to NYU spokesman John Beckman, graduate students "receive compensation above and beyond the stipend they receive as fully funded graduate students."
He added that the university respects the wishes of students to voice their opinions.
But Elric Kline, graduate student and former teaching assistant, said the university's neglect of student interests does not "represent the highest ideals of democracy."
"Grad students make huge contributions to the university," he said.
Jan Padios, sixth year graduate student and teaching assistant in the Social and Cultural Analysis Department, said, "Without a contract, we have no mechanism for airing and addressing grievances related to how our labor is being used by the university."
Members of NYU's Union of Clerical, Administrative, and Technical Staff were present at the rally for support.
"Busting GSOC is just a continuation of their 200 year history of misusing labor," president of UCATS Stephen Rechner said of NYU's neglect of the graduate student union.
Rechner added that NYU had no reason not to recognize the union.
"Their net worth is increasing every year," he said. "They are not affected by the recession. They are only using the recession as an excuse to make pay cuts and eliminate over 300 positions."
Third year graduate student and event organizer Daniel Aldana Cohen expressed his optimism at the turnout.
"To have such depth and diversity in our support is really encouraging," he said. "It shows that GSOC/UAW is not alone. Looking forward, we continue to demand that the university accept the will of the majority of graduate employees to have a union and engage in collective bargaining. In the meantime, GSOC/UAW is taking legal steps and we're still organizing and building our support on campus."
