By electronic ballot, the IU-Bloomington faculty has voted to recognize the graduate workers union. The Bloomington Faculty Council reported the official vote Monday.
After three years of attempting to engage with administration, English PhD candidate Katie Shy says this is an encouraging next step.
“It's really exciting we’re prepared to have a dialogue at any point over the summer as our fall strike deadline approaches,” Shy said. “We really believe that there's a lot of constructive work that we can begin doing right.”
The first resolution, which passed with 83.8% in favor, affirms no retaliation against any individuals participating in the strike. The second resolution, which passed with 73.4% in favor, states that the IU Board of Trustees must engage in dialogue with the workers’ coalition and provide a pathway to union recognition.
The board still needs to approve of the union, which some faculty do not foresee happening. Jim Sherman, Professor Emeritus in the Psychological and Brain Sciences department, feels a union is not necessary for several issues to be discussed with the administration and resolved.
“A union isn't going to magically solve that problem of finding money or teachers or taking care of those graduate students,” Sherman said. “But I also feel that working on it, we can make progress toward it. I have a lot of reasons for having concerns about unionization.”
The strike was suspended on May 10 for the summer. IGWC-UE plans to resume the strike in the fall unless an agreement is reached with the administration.
