Comments on: Yale challenges Local 33 petitions in court

By: disqus_8OXql7RkNS

disqus_8OXql7RkNS — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 07:35:00 +0000

In reply to Emily Drascus. what does 'let democracy do its thing' mean in this context?

By: Ralphiec88

Ralphiec88 — Wed, 14 Sep 2016 16:10:00 +0000

In reply to jkoe. A little over the top, don't you think? I'm speaking from several years in industry side by side with union employees, so you can stop ranting about armchairs. You might consider the possibility that this issue is unlikely to be as positive and simple as you imagine from your studies.

By: YaleHumanitiesGrad

YaleHumanitiesGrad — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 17:53:00 +0000

I initially opposed GESO’s arbitrary, cherry-picked “department-by-department” bargaining units on the grounds of gerrymandering: they selected 10 departments where they believe their support is in the 75% plus range. This would effectively guarantee them a victory. It’s a form of voter disenfranchisement not unlike the tactics used by republican legislators to suppress voter turnout in minority communities. You can guarantee yourself a win when you ensure that those likely not to vote for you are not given the opportunity to vote.

While this remains the primary reason for my opposition, I have also realized something else: in my specific case, half the teaching I have done has been in a department outside of my home department. Two of my three advisors have primary or secondary appointments in departments (and schools!) outside of the one in which I am a member. GESO’s departmental bargaining units fail to take into account the real ways in which many (sometimes, most) graduate students straddle the boundaries of multiple programs. Like I said, this is a cheap ploy designed to secure a victory. It has nothing to do with the reality of how departments actually operate.

By: Emily Drascus

Emily Drascus — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 17:31:00 +0000

In reply to disqus_f3Gqo4uR2r. Agreed completely. I'm in favor of unionization, but (like many other grad students) have always loathed GESO. They need to step aside and let democracy do its thing.

By: jkoe

jkoe — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 15:28:00 +0000

In reply to Ralphiec88.

Ah yes, a graduate student union will spell the end of everything. Talk to anyone at Berkeley, they will tell you, research there has essentially stopped for the past 15 years, since the union has turned grad student and faculty into two opposing gangs who murder each other over control of the drug market. Refer to http://www.thecgeu.org/2016/09/unionization-testimonies/ for a collection of such horror stories.

There is something astonishing about Ivy League tenured professors (supposedly the guardians of all that is good and rational) engaging in armchair philosophizing about how a union will no doubt disrupt their magical relationship with graduate students. This is an empirically testable assertion about reality. It has been shown to be false, as they could learn by asking any of their colleagues who work with unionized graduate students, or reading any study that examines the question.

By: Ralphiec88

Ralphiec88 — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 11:59:00 +0000

Making 10 different bargaining units would take “be careful what you wish for” to a whole new level. It would have incremental benefits in the battle to unionize, but the only big win would be for those who make money as union consultants.
Having seen the reality of established unions in action, I believe Yale and particularly students would lose big as their studies fall victim to byzantine union rules and a toxic relationship between grad students and the university.
I also question whether it would even benefit the graduate students careers. Union culture has inherent pressures to not go above and beyond what’s contractual or what other members are doing. One of the worst aspects of my years in a union environment was seeing people with great potential strive for mediocrity and choose incompetence. You can say “that won’t happen here” or want to support any battle with the Yale administration, but the negative forces of the union relationship in practice are virtually impossible to overcome.

By: disqus_f3Gqo4uR2r

disqus_f3Gqo4uR2r — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 11:03:00 +0000

GESO has a long history of shooting itself in the foot, and this seems like the latest attempt. For better or worse, departments at Yale are anything but autonomous; they can’t do anything without permission from the central administration. And there are many “combined” PhD programs: half in one program, half in another. What if only one of them is unionized? No: this is unworkable. It has to be the whole grad school or nothing.