Funferal

Grad Union woes

The Graduate Employee Union at the University of Pennsylvania, GET-UP, are organising a petition to protest against a rather disturbing situation:

After an intense organizing drive, in December 2001 GET-UP filed a majority petition with the National Labor Relations Board to hold a union recognition election. After months of delay, the NLRB ruled in GET-UP’s favor, and in November 2002 the Board ordered an election to be held on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania on Februray 26-27, 2003. The Penn administration appealed the NLRB ruling, and thus, the ballots cast in February’s election were immediately impounded and are currently locked in a box somewhere in an office in Washington pending the outcome of the appeal. Exit polls and internal reporting mechanisms both indicated a strong victory for GET-UP.
Supporters and friends should understand this: With one phone call to its lawyers, the Penn administration could open the ballot boxes, have our votes counted, and let the democratic process run its course.