Join Us! WEDNESDAY, 12:30-2: Cornell Grad Student Union Rally & March

The Tompkins County Workers’ Center (TCWC) has been working very closely with the Cornell Graduate Students United (CGSU) who are organizing for a union on the campus of Cornell for the past couple of years.

Tomorrow/Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. outside of Bailey Hall @ Cornell the TCWC and other community/labor partners will be JOINING with CGSU in its’ notification to Cornell University of their intent to file for a union recognition election! At 1:15, everyone will march to Day Hall to present petitions. The leaders of CGSU are formally inviting all community and labor members to be a part of this. If you’re able to make and are on Facebook, please consider RSVPing.

From the student organizers:
“Our choice is clear: either we can keep things the way they are—where Cornell is the sole decision-maker with regards to our working conditions—or we can vote “yes” to create a fair and democratic graduate union that will give us a seat at the decision-making table.

Now that we’re filing for the election, you can expect to hear more from the Cornell management regarding their position on unionization. The administration doesn’t want power dynamics to shift, which is why they’ve hired Proskauer Rose LLP, an extremely expensive law firm, to fight against our grad worker unionization effort. Proskauer Rose is the same firm used by the NFL, NBA, and NHL to fight against players and sports fans, and their lawyers sat in on the negotiation of our Union-University Code of Conduct agreement at the administration’s request. The Cornell administration has money on their side, but we as grad students have power in numbers and in solidarity to ensure that we are treated with the fairness, respect, and democracy we deserve! We’re excited to see you all at Bailey Hall to show the administration our power! March with us on Wednesday, and keep an eye out for updates on the forthcoming election.”