NYU graduate students continue protesting in Washington Square

Ariel Schwartz Assistant News Editor

The New York University (NYU) graduate assistant union began the strike they had been threatening for months on Nov. 9. The decision to strike came after an August ruling from the National Labor Relations Board saying that universities are not legally obliged to recognize their graduate unions. NYU attempted to negotiate with the union about the conditions of their existence, but did not include a third-party grievance procedure and did not allow the union to have a say in academic affairs. The union did not respond to the offer, and the university stopped recognizing its existence on August 31.

The strike began one day after negotiations between faculty members and the NYU president and provost failed. More than 600 supporters turned out on the first day of the strike.

Many sympathetic professors have moved their classes off-campus to such places as movie theatres, other nearby campuses, and even their own apartments. A good number of classes are still being held on campus.

“As far as the strike affecting me personally, it has not really changed my daily life,” said NYU undergraduate student Zachary Lane ’08. “They do not try to prevent students from attending classes, and none of my graduate student assistants have gone on strike.”

Despite the massive outpouring of support, not all NYU students are in favor of the strike.

“In the beginning of all this, I was inclined to believe that the union has valid concerns and that the administration was likely taking advantage of the National Labor Relations Board’s ruling that they do not need to recognize unions, but the more I read the more I realized that many of the problems the graduate students wish to address can be solved without the use of a union,” said Lane.

Lane also argued that the students invoke the language and imagery of labor unions with more serious grievances in order to further their cause, such as child labor during the industrial revolution and coal miners working in unsafe situations.

In an all-campus e-mail sent on Nov. 14, NYU President John Sexton wrote, “[The administration] is prepared to cooperate with the union in disclosing sufficient details of the summer discussions so that others can reach their own conclusion.” Sexton wrote that administrators agreed to provide benefits for graduate assistants for a three-year period, and also raised graduate assistants’ salaries. Sexton is working with the Graduate Assistant Grievance Working Group and the Committee on Graduate Affairs on strike-related issues.