Letters to the Editor

The truth about unions

To the Editor:

As a supporter of the graduate employee unionization campaign, I was dismayed by a recent letter accusing The Daily Pennsylvanian of failing to cover both sides of the issue ("The untold story," DP, 1/24/02). I feel compelled to reply because the writer makes several untrue statements.

First of all, Penn graduate employees would not be part of a collective bargaining unit with those at Temple. If we vote to unionize, we will form our own union local run by and for ourselves. Both Penn and Temple graduate employees would be affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, but each would operate autonomously, just as Penn and Princeton are both in the Ivy League and don't merge their basketball teams.

Second, those who decline to vote in a union election are not counted as "yes" votes. Just like state or city elections, the majority of those who vote will determine the outcome. Holding a union election during this semester, while classes are in session, as Graduate Employees Together-University of Pennsylvania urges, will allow more voices to be heard. I hope the administration doesn't use its lawyers to prolong the hearings process.

Beyond these incorrect assertions, the letter also alleges that the arguments against unionization are not being covered. Well, several weeks back all graduate employees received a long anti-union e-mail from Deputy Provost Peter Conn, and his views as well as other anti-union views have appeared in the DP. Neither GET-UP nor the DP can be blamed if the anti-union group cannot muster a public rally.

The union student leaders who I've met strongly support an open and informed debate on unionization. Go to the GET-UP website, which includes all of the DP coverage for, against and in between. The administration has an anti-union webpage. Both sides of the debate are out there. We can all approach this issue with open minds -- rather than spreading misinformation.

Jeremy Vetter

History and Sociology of Science Ph.D. student

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