Warning about NYU grad school

[NYU grad student]

I am a third year PhD candidate in the history department at NYU. I just want to let people know what has been going on with the graduate student strike at NYU and the severe divisions among grad students, faculty, and undergraduates. There is incredible animosity toward the administration among both those faculty and departments who support the grad students campaign and those who don’t, as the administration has repeatedly shown an absolute disregard for the academic decision making of the faculty and departments across the board. At one point, the administration breached the privacy of classroom discussions by spying on the faculty through the Blackboard on-line teaching tool used by many faculty to post readings, send e-mails, and foster discussion outside of the class room. For more see:

http://www.nyunews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/11/14/43782aa26f692
http://www.facultydemocracy.org/surveillance.html

Graduate students have been on strike for three weeks. Until August, NYU graduate students had a contract with NYU, which gave them protections under the NLRB for our financial compensation and working conditions. Because of a reversal of an earlier NLRB position, NYU has decided not to recognize the union and has refused to negotiate a second contract, declaring that TAs and GAs are not workers. For an analysis of debate of graduate student unionizing, see Physics Professor Alan Sokal letter to other faculty:

http://www.facultydemocracy.org/somethoughts.html

On Monday, November 28, John Sexton, President of NYU, threatened to begin docking our pay (even though in their view we are not workers) and to take way graduate student stipends for up to two semesters if graduate students do not return to work next Monday, December 5.

Yesterday, at a rally among grad students, faculty, and undergraduates in front of Bobst Library, where the administration offices are, 150 undergraduates charged into the library to deliver a letter demanding that Sexton negotiate a new contract with graduate students.

http://www.nyunews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/12/01/438e9ca6e73c7

Also yesterday, faculty democracy, which is an on-campus group of over 200 faculty who support NYU graduate students right to choose to be represented by a union, passed a resolution which stated “if the administration proceeds with its consequences [toward striking graduate students], the faculty will take a series of action that may include but are not limited to withholding grades, implementing a moratorium on the graduate admissions process, and informing prospective candidates for faculty positions of the administration’s persistent violations of faculty rights at NYU.” Faculty democracy has also formed a committee to investigate the threats of the administration toward graduate students.

http://www.facultydemocracy.org/newcommittee.html

On Friday, national labor leaders, including UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, UNITE-HERE Co-President John Wilhelm, NYC Central Labor Council President Brian McLaughlin, elected officials and other labor leaders and members will be at NYU’s Bobst Library for a noon picket line rally.

For more information on faculty democracy: http://www.facultydemocracy.org

For more information on the NYU graduate union: http://2110uaw.org/gsoc/gsoc_strike_center.htm

For media coverage of the strike: http://2110uaw.org/gsoc/press%20archive.htm

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