Undergraduate Labor Organization presents neutrality bill for grad student worker union

By Roxanne Boychuk, writer for The Daily Orange | Published on January 31, 2023

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A Syracuse Graduate Employee Union bill requesting neutrality from Syracuse University was presented at Monday night’s Student Association after garnering the official support of around 250 faculty members and three SA sponsors.

The bill – which Undergraduate Labor Organization members presented – asks that SU neither supports nor discourages the union, and specifically omits any request that the university voluntarily recognize SGEU. Hayden Courtney and Chris Holowczak of ULO explained the bill’s goal of establishing protections for current graduate student workers who join the union.

“It’s just asking the University not to attempt to discourage people, intimidating them from joining the Graduate Students Workers Union” Holowczak said.

SA also saw its first vetoed bill of the academic year, which would allow SA to obtain five SU history books from different time periods for its office in the Schine Student Center. The bill’s authors – SA President David Bruen, Vice President Adia Santos and Historian Eleanor Unsworth – aimed at using increased knowledge about SU’s history via the books in order to help make decisions for the future.

Detractors of the bill ultimately held that the books could be biased since they’re from the SU bookstore, and therefore that they would need to be fact-checked before any use. Some members suggested talking to the Office of Multicultural Affairs to confirm the accuracy of the books’ historical account.

Faraz Lotfi, a first-year SUNY ESF student outside of SA, voiced concerns at the meeting about the valuable information that the veto might cause students in SA who have influence on campus to miss out on.

The assembly unanimously approved the veto.

SA Chief of Staff Malique Lewis commented on the cultural significance in the university’s history, saying the responsibility is on the SA to make a statement.

“This university is whitewashed,” Lewis said. “It has been whitewashed for many years. That is our history, unfortunately, but we’re making history right now…different races, different cultures, different people, different experiences, different perspectives.”

Other business:

Aubrie Methven, a first-year student majoring in environmental studies, and Eden Gardner, a second-year environmental studies student with a law and policy focus, were elected to SA’s ESF Assembly Seats.

SA will partner with University Union for its second annual Black History Month Movie event in the Watson Theatre.

An SU Callisto representative gave public comment about the organization’s services on campus for survivors of sexual assault at Monday’s meeting. Callisto, a third-party, non-profit and survivor-founded organization, hopes to provide a safe space on campus to report sexual assault allegations in light of the recent investigations with Vera House. Callisto is looking to gain support and promotion from SA.