Syracuse Graduate Employees United members march in hopes of gaining recognition
By Dominic Chiappone, Isabella Flores, writers for The Daily Orange | Published February 8, 2023
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Around 250 Syracuse University graduate student employees and union supporters marched from Carnegie Library on Wednesday to deliver letters supporting Syracuse Graduate Employees United to Chancellor Kent Syverud, Provost Gretchen Ritter and the Board of Trustees. The protestors were calling for university administration to voluntarily recognize SGEU.
SU’s administration will have until Feb. 20 to voluntarily recognize SGEU, the organization’s letter to Ritter states. If the university fails to voluntarily recognize the union, SGEU is prepared to file for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board in Buffalo, said Hayden Courtney, a graduate student worker in SU’s sociology department.
“We research, teach, grade papers, projects, and exams, serve on committees, supervise field placements, and perform other essential functions to not only keep this university running but also to maintain its R-1 research status,” said Michelle Tyran, a graduate student worker in the food studies department, before handing the letter to Ritter. “SU works because we do.”
Ritter met with demonstrators from 14 different campus and community groups, including SGEU, the Undergraduate Labor Organization, the Student Association, the Graduate Student Organization and the Urban Jobs Task Force. The ULO also delivered Ritter a petition with over 1,000 signatures from SU students, staff, parents and alumni.
Sadie Novak, a fourth year PhD candidate in the chemistry department, said she appreciated SGEU’s hard work and the university community’s support. Courtney echoed her statement and stressed the importance of collectively advocating for better working conditions amid graduate student workers’ frustrations over low wage stipends and healthcare plan restrictions.
“Union movements in general are built on a unity coalition,” Courtney said. “It’s a work between multiple different groups because really, we’re all fighting for equity within not just the university but under a larger Syracuse community.”
SA unanimously passed a bill Monday to officially establish its recognition and support of SGEU’s unionization campaign, which it launched on Jan. 17. GSO passed a similar bill recognizing SGEU at its meeting on Feb. 2.
Representatives from the Democratic Socialists of America and the Syracuse Labor Council who attended the march urged action on workers’ rights.
“We will always support workers’ right to organize and have a voice in the job,” Spadafore said. “We hope that you will be a model for the rest of the community in how worker relations can be. We want you to recognize this union.”Sohrob Aslamy, a graduate student in the department of geography and environments, represented the Syracuse branch for the Party for Socialism and Liberation. He emphasized the importance of what the SGEU’s efforts mean for the broader Syracuse community.
“We are proud to send hundreds of unionizing graduate employees here on campus, to say resolutely that a victory for one union in our city is a victory for all humans in our city,” Aslamy said.
SGEU said its goal is to create and maintain a relationship with SU that is respectful and collaborative. In its letter to Ritter, SGEU wrote that a majority of members of the unionization effort have signed union authorization cards.
Megan Cooper, a member of ULO’s leadership team, emphasized the importance of graduate student workers being supported and advocated for. Cooper, who focuses on undergraduate outreach, said ULO is actively working with SGEU to help achieve its goals.
“We have a huge population of workers on this campus that are not paid fairly, that are not getting fair benefits, that are working far over the hours they’ve agreed to work,” Cooper said. “This unionization campaign is really important and making sure that they are really heard and treated respectfully.”
Courtney said the demonstration was a step in the right direction for both SGEU and SU’s administration and SU has been “cordial” in listening to SGEU’s needs. Courtney said SGEU is currently working with lawyers from the Service Employees International Union, a national organization of labor union workers, to ensure protections for student protesters.
Matthew Huber, a professor in SU’s Department of Geology and Environment, also presented a letter to Ritter with signatures from at least 250 SU faculty members. Huber told Ritter that SGEU’s slogan “SU works because we do” also extends to faculty workers.
“It’s great to see all kinds of workers on campus out here supporting what is a fundamental legal right in this country, which is the right to organize,” Huber said. “It’s really important that all different types of workers come out to support the graduate student workers.”
Novak emphasized the significance of faculty support like Huber’s. She said she believes SU is serious about working with SGEU moving forward.
“We are really excited for what this means for graduate student workers at SU, and we are even more excited to share this moment with the tremendous community support that has rallied around us,” Novak said.
