From: SGAcont <sgacont-bounces@coe.northeastern.edu> on behalf of The Office of the Provost <office_of_the_provost@northeastern.edu>
Sent: Thursday, February 9, 2023 3:22 PM
Subject: United Autoworkers Union Election Petition
Dear Graduate Students,
The United Autoworkers Union filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday, seeking to represent a large bargaining unit at Northeastern, including all graduate students on assistantships along with those who perform hourly work, such as graders and readers. This means that the university will participate in a process with the NLRB to determine who will be in the proposed bargaining unit and eligible to vote in an election.
Determining the bargaining unit is one of the most critical functions of the NLRB because the proposed unit must be appropriate for collective bargaining. All those included in a bargaining unit are bound by the results of any election and cannot “opt out” even if they do not wish to be part of the union.
The union approached the university last Friday and asked that we opt out of this process by agreeing to election terms that it negotiated with another school. When we suggested that the union hold on the NLRB process to give us an opportunity to discuss election agreement options, the union declined and proceeded with its petition. Now that the petition has been filed, the NLRB will examine the union’s proposed unit and decide who should be included and whether an election should take place.
Voting is important if a union election is ordered because representation will be decided by a majority of those who show up to vote. As an example, if 1,000 graduate students were identified as a bargaining unit, and only 100 showed up to vote in the election, 51 of those voting “yes” for a union would decide union representation for all 1,000 graduate students.
As this process unfolds, we encourage you to become informed about what it means to have a union and to determine if it makes sense for your graduate student experience. Our webpage has FAQs and other relevant information that may be helpful. Please email gradunioninfo@northeastern.edu if you have questions about this process or about how unionization might impact your graduate experience at Northeastern.
I look forward to continuing to build on the significant progress we have made as a graduate student community, and to our continued partnership with graduate government and with you at the college level.
Regards,
David Madigan, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs