To the Editor:
Sorry, GESO, but Levin is right. A National Labor Relations Board election is the only appropriate process for union recognition. All GESO has to do is request an election from the NLRB; if necessary, the NLRB will conduct a hearing on the matter. After about six weeks of very well-supervised campaigning, a secret ballot election will be held. Provided that there are no irregularities during this process, the result will stand. If GESO wins an NLRB election, that is it; Levin and Yale have to accept the union and bargain with them.
The only reason GESO would continue to call for a card-count neutrality agreement is because they know that they’ll lose in an election. Signed union cards don’t mean much on their own, but GESO can use them to petition for an election. Anita Seth GRD ’05 writes in her letter (“GESO is ready for a dialogue — so why isn’t the Yale administration?” 10/24), “GESO members remain committed to a negotiated solution that would allow graduate students to freely express their democratic right to join together in a union.”
Card-count neutrality is no such option. An election is the only fair way that the graduate students can be sure to have the chance to decide how they want to work. Without an election, students will have no protection from coercion by both the management and the union.
The first step is admitting you’re afraid, GESO. It’s OK, but now it is time for you to stop talking and act.
Mary Hollis ’06
October 26, 2002