Faculty Letter of Support for GSOC Democracy
We, the undersigned faculty at NYU, are writing to express our concern that the democratic rights of our graduate students are being suppressed by the union that represents them.
On Friday night, the UAW Local 2110 Executive Board notified our graduate students that they would be cancelling the scheduled elections and installing a slate of members to the executive body of GSOC by default. This sudden suspension of union democracy coincides with a much-publicized GSOC referendum on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, scheduled to take place during elections this week. The news also comes after months of preparation for the elections to GSOC’s Assembly of Stewards and Local 2110’s Joint Council, long scheduled to take place from Monday, April 18, to Thursday, April 21.
The announcement by the Local President was followed by individual emails to many candidates stating that they had been disqualified. The GSOC Votes Committee has issued an open letter to the Local challenging their right to determine internal unit matters and disenfranchise GSOC members. Notably, Local 2110 Executive Board disproportionately disqualified known supporters of the GSOC for BDS caucus and installed several anti-BDS GSOC members as representatives. Over the last eight months, members of the GSOC for BDS caucus have been waging an educational and organizing campaign within the union, gathering hundreds of signatures to put the question of joining the BDS movement to referendum.
Such interference in the election process is unprecedented in the union. In previous elections, Local 2110 collaborated with the GSOC unit Votes Committee to carry out elections at NYU, and members were eligible to run based on GSOC bylaws. This interference seems to be politically motivated to silence the left caucuses. Of the fourteen candidates originally disqualified at the last minute, ten were known supporters of the BDS caucus and nine were members of the democratic reform caucus, Academic Workers for a Democratic Union (AWDU).
We hope that the local executives will meet with GSOC leadership to resolve the apparent injustices. We call on them to uphold the principles of union democracy and respect our graduate students’ right not only to hold fair and open elections but also to take a political position on the BDS resolution.
Sign below if you want to add your name.
Here, are the faculty signatories on the original divestment petition
On Friday night, the UAW Local 2110 Executive Board notified our graduate students that they would be cancelling the scheduled elections and installing a slate of members to the executive body of GSOC by default. This sudden suspension of union democracy coincides with a much-publicized GSOC referendum on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, scheduled to take place during elections this week. The news also comes after months of preparation for the elections to GSOC’s Assembly of Stewards and Local 2110’s Joint Council, long scheduled to take place from Monday, April 18, to Thursday, April 21.
The announcement by the Local President was followed by individual emails to many candidates stating that they had been disqualified. The GSOC Votes Committee has issued an open letter to the Local challenging their right to determine internal unit matters and disenfranchise GSOC members. Notably, Local 2110 Executive Board disproportionately disqualified known supporters of the GSOC for BDS caucus and installed several anti-BDS GSOC members as representatives. Over the last eight months, members of the GSOC for BDS caucus have been waging an educational and organizing campaign within the union, gathering hundreds of signatures to put the question of joining the BDS movement to referendum.
Such interference in the election process is unprecedented in the union. In previous elections, Local 2110 collaborated with the GSOC unit Votes Committee to carry out elections at NYU, and members were eligible to run based on GSOC bylaws. This interference seems to be politically motivated to silence the left caucuses. Of the fourteen candidates originally disqualified at the last minute, ten were known supporters of the BDS caucus and nine were members of the democratic reform caucus, Academic Workers for a Democratic Union (AWDU).
We hope that the local executives will meet with GSOC leadership to resolve the apparent injustices. We call on them to uphold the principles of union democracy and respect our graduate students’ right not only to hold fair and open elections but also to take a political position on the BDS resolution.
Sign below if you want to add your name.
Here, are the faculty signatories on the original divestment petition
Julie Livingston, Professor
Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis
Jin Uleman, Professor of Psychology
Marie Monaco, Associate Professor
Michael Ralph, Associate Professor, Social and Cultural Analysis
Kristin Ross, Professor of Comparative Literature
Sinclair Thomson, Associate Professor of History
John Waters, Clinical faculty
John Archer, Professor
Marita Sturken, Professor
Dipti Desai, Associate Professor, Department of Art and Art Professions
Linda Gordon, University Professor of the Humanities and History
Nick Mirzoeff, Professor Media, Culture and Communications
Christine B. Harrington, Professor of Politics and Law
Priscilla Karant, Clinical Assistant Professor
Monica Kim, Assistant Professor
Molly Nolan, Professor of History
John Maynard, Professor of English
Jeff Goodwin, Professor of Sociology
Ann Pellegrini, Professor, Performance Studies & SCA
Stephen Duncombe, Professor, Gallatin & MCC, Steinhardt
Emanuela Bianchi, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature
Walter Alvarez, Adjunct assistant professor, Silver School of Social Work
Arlene Davila, Professor
Valerie Forman, Associate Professor
Crystal Parikh, Associate Professor
Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Associate professor
Brett Gary, Associate Professor, Media, Culture and Communication
Arang Keshavarzian, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
Sebastián Calderón Bentin, Assistant Profesor of Drama
Sibylle Fischer, Associate Professor
Vasuki Nesiah, Associate Prof. of Practice, The Gallatin School
Hartry Field, Professor
Rebecca E. Karl, Associate Professor of History
Lisa Duggan, Professor, Social & Cultural Analysis
Josefina Saldaña-Portillo, Professor
Tavia Nyong'o, Associate Professor
Paula Chakravartty, Associate Professor
Sarah Leonard, Part-Time Faculty, The Gallatin School
Bertell Ollman, Professor, NYU Dept. of Politics
Faye Ginsburg, David Kriser Professor of Anthropology
Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis
Jin Uleman, Professor of Psychology
Marie Monaco, Associate Professor
Michael Ralph, Associate Professor, Social and Cultural Analysis
Kristin Ross, Professor of Comparative Literature
Sinclair Thomson, Associate Professor of History
John Waters, Clinical faculty
John Archer, Professor
Marita Sturken, Professor
Dipti Desai, Associate Professor, Department of Art and Art Professions
Linda Gordon, University Professor of the Humanities and History
Nick Mirzoeff, Professor Media, Culture and Communications
Christine B. Harrington, Professor of Politics and Law
Priscilla Karant, Clinical Assistant Professor
Monica Kim, Assistant Professor
Molly Nolan, Professor of History
John Maynard, Professor of English
Jeff Goodwin, Professor of Sociology
Ann Pellegrini, Professor, Performance Studies & SCA
Stephen Duncombe, Professor, Gallatin & MCC, Steinhardt
Emanuela Bianchi, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature
Walter Alvarez, Adjunct assistant professor, Silver School of Social Work
Arlene Davila, Professor
Valerie Forman, Associate Professor
Crystal Parikh, Associate Professor
Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Associate professor
Brett Gary, Associate Professor, Media, Culture and Communication
Arang Keshavarzian, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
Sebastián Calderón Bentin, Assistant Profesor of Drama
Sibylle Fischer, Associate Professor
Vasuki Nesiah, Associate Prof. of Practice, The Gallatin School
Hartry Field, Professor
Rebecca E. Karl, Associate Professor of History
Lisa Duggan, Professor, Social & Cultural Analysis
Josefina Saldaña-Portillo, Professor
Tavia Nyong'o, Associate Professor
Paula Chakravartty, Associate Professor
Sarah Leonard, Part-Time Faculty, The Gallatin School
Bertell Ollman, Professor, NYU Dept. of Politics
Faye Ginsburg, David Kriser Professor of Anthropology
