University of Rochester graduate workers rallied on Thursday, calling on the university to stop delaying their efforts to form a union.
Organizers say they voted unanimously in December to accept the proposed agreement from the university. However, after six weeks, they say the administration still hasn't offered a date to sign it.
More than 200 graduate workers, along with students, faculty, religious leaders and members of Rochester City Council, gathered on the U of R campus Thursday to express their frustration with what they say are continued delays. Workers emphasized that they are committed to winning their union and that escalating actions will continue until the agreement that was reached by both parties is signed.
In response, the university released the following statement, saying in part:
"Since last winter, there have been multiple times when the union took large blocks of time (lasting months in some cases) to review the draft private election agreement and provide feedback to the University. The University now needs some additional time to review and consider the ramifications of the proposed agreement in light of a court decision in the Vanderbilt University v. National Labor Relations Board case, which was decided last month. There, the court granted Vanderbilt a preliminary injunction, preventing the NLRB from requiring Vanderbilt, leading up to an NLRB election, to produce certain student data that could otherwise violate the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)."
The University supports the right of our PhD students to decide whether union representation is right for them. We take this process very seriously and plan to follow up as quickly as possible with a formal response to the union."
