Galleries

SUNBURSTS | Demonstrations and Vigils

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This past week, the Cornell and Ithaca communities came together to take a stand for and honor the causes and conflicts they are most passionate about. Cornell Graduate Students United — Wednesday, Oct. 2

Last Wednesday, approximately 180 Cornell Graduate Students United members and supporters gathered in front of Bailey Hall and Day Hall to protest the suspension of international graduate student Momodou Taal. (Ming DeMers/Sun Photography Editor)

CGSU argued the union should be able to bargain Taal’s suspension with the University under a Memorandum of Agreement reached last July. Taal taught a First-Year Writing Seminar class before his suspension, meaning his working conditions were impacted by the University’s disciplinary action.

Letters To

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Union Shop isn’t Academic Freedom

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Re: “‘Meet Us at the Bargaining Table’: Cornell Graduate Students United Rallies for Employment Protections” (news, April 10)

In coverage of the CGSU-UE’s Rally for Respect, the Cornell Daily Sun broadcasted the union’s unscrutinized propaganda advocating for union shop, a clause in our proposed contract which forces all grad students to support the union as a condition of earning our degrees. Rally speaker Amy Tsai described union shop as a “contract provision that means everyone is automatically a member of CGSU-UE.” This is a lie! Nobody automatically becomes a member. In fact, when MIT’s grad student union was charged with breaking the law for telling this exact lie, the NLRB required them to post a notice of their unfair labor practice. In reality, the union can at most compel us to pay “agency fees,” regular dues minus those funds dedicated to political activity, while eliminating our right to vote on our contract. 

The truth undermines Tsai’s primary defense of union shop: protection from advisor retaliation.