Statement on Campus Climate, Academic Freedom, and Your Employee Rights

TL;DR (See Full Statement with More Information Below):

  • With the escalation of the ongoing Israel/Hamas conflict, SU’s campus climate has become increasingly fraught;

  • Relatedly, a growing number of students and graduate employees are being affected by various expressions of racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and antisemitism;

  • SGEU is concerned about potential violations of academic freedom and employment rights involving teaching assistants, early-career scholars, and graduate employees;

  • Violations of theses rights and principles are unacceptable and the SGEU Bargaining Committee has communicated this directly to officials from the Provost’s Office and Graduate School;

  • Currently, we are bargaining for contractual protection of academic freedom with the administration and value the work, thoughts, and experiences of all SGEU members;

  • All SGEU Members are legally protected by Employment rights known as “Weingarten Rights”— If you are asked to go to a meeting that you suspect is disciplinary in nature, may lead to disciplinary action, or may lead to a change in your working conditions, you have the right for an SGEU member-representative to accompany you as a third party observer to support you and serve as a witness in case there are any violations of the National Labor Relations Act. 

Dear SGEU Members,

The purpose of this statement is to address the currently fraught campus climate, various reports of discrimination, harassment, and censorship we have received, and to speak to the steps SGEU members can take to collectively support each other during these contentious times. 


SGEU consists of approximately 1100 members from a variety of national, ethnic, religious, and otherwise personal backgrounds. The SGEU Bargaining Committee, which consists of 12 SGEU members, stands firmly against any expression of bigotry that graduate employees may experience in the workplace, including but not limited to xenophobia, racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism, all of which have been on the rise in the US since the escalation of the conflict between the state of Israel and Hamas. As graduate employees and early-career scholars, we are often asked to opine on global events in a scholarly manner—either in the classroom or other public forums—placing some individuals in complex, tense and potentially threatening situations. Any degree of censorship or harassment against teaching assistants and scholars is wholly unacceptable, whether it’s coming from supervisors, students, or parents of students. It is vital that SGEU members stand together to support one another during these difficult times as a collective; and as members of a newly formed labor union, there are a variety of ways in which we can do this. More information on your protections and ways to protect your coworkers from harassment and censorship are included below:

Steps the SGEU Bargaining Committee and Organizing Committee has Taken: 

  1. Discussions regarding harassment, censorship, and academic freedom at the Bargaining Table

    The SGEU Bargaining Committee put forward a proposal specifically concerning “Academic Freedom” on October 31st, while negotiations regarding a comprehensive “Non-Discrimination” article in our contract have been ongoing since early October. We expressed our concern that while SU policy currently speaks to the academic freedom of faculty members, and the SU Student Handbook speaks to our speech rights as individual students, there is currently no SU policy explicitly detailing and guaranteeing our academic rights and freedoms as TAs and early-career scholars. To address this situation, the SGEU Bargaining Committee drafted and proposed an explicit “Academic Freedom” article, explaining our intention to assure Graduate Employees working in an instructional or scholarly capacity retain the same academic rights as full-time and tenured faculty. While SU indicated they agree with the sentiment and importance of academic freedom, they have yet to sign a tentative agreement on this proposed article. Negotiations are still in progress. 

    Unfortunately,  the SGEU Bargaining Committee has begun to receive some reports of harassment from members, in their capacity as teaching assistants. We are working to address these concerns as quickly as possible and have communicated some of the concerns reported to us directly to the SU administration and their representatives in a meeting on November 7th, making it clear that SGEU members do not currently feel supported or protected by their departments or the University as a whole. It was also reiterated that any attempt to censor or discipline a graduate employee for engaging global events in their TA or scholarly capacities may be a violation of labor law that may justify filing an “Unfair Labor Practice” claim with the National Labor Relations Board. SU’s bargaining team, which includes representatives from the Provost’s office and Graduate School, conveyed their appreciation for escalating these concerns and agreed that further discussion was urgently needed. The SGEU Bargaining Committee fully intends on continuing to have these discussions in our bargaining sessions as long as they are needed in order for every graduate worker to feel safe and supported in their place of work. If you have an experience or story that you feel would help illustrate to the SU admin that academic freedom, censorship, and harassment is a serious issue on our campus, you are welcome to share your story or request a meeting with an SGEU Bargaining Committee Member here.

  2. Your Employee Rights as Union Members and How You Can Utilize Them— Future Information Sessions Noted Below

    As members of a labor union, you hold what are often referred to as “Weingarten Rights” which are further explained in the flier below. These rights clearly specify that you are allowed to have a union member or representative with you at any meeting that you suspect is disciplinary in nature, or may lead to disciplinary action. The union member or representative present will provide personal support and bear witness as a third party in the case that disciplinary action, or any violation of labor law, comes out of that meeting. Any supervisor who denies you the right to have another union member or representative present during such a meeting is in violation of the National Labor Relations Act. 

    SGEU organizers and member-representatives are currently receiving further training on these rights, and we invite all members to attend this informational session on Thursday, November 30th, at 6:00pm, Location TBA. Please RSVP for that informational session at this link: https://tinyurl.com/Employee-Rights-SGEU


    If you are unable to make this training, or feel that colleagues in your department would benefit from a similar training, you are welcome to contact us at info@syracusegradsunited.org to schedule a training on Weingarten/Employment Rights for graduate employees and teaching assistants in your academic department or registered student organization.

One-Sheet Guide to Weingarten Rights

You are welcome to download the document displayed below: Click Here