Fellow graduate employees,
In a historic election, the Coalition of Graduate Employees was overwhelmingly chosen as the union representative for graduate research and teaching assistants not currently represented under the collective bargaining agreement. This election nearly doubles CGE’s current bargaining unit and significantly increases the power of graduate employees on campus!
This is tremendous victory for all of us! The immediate effect of this victory will be to enter into bargaining with OSU’s administration. We want to make sure that all 781 graduate employees coming into the bargaining unit are covered by the terms of the current CGE contract and to deal with needs that are unique to this group of new members. In the coming weeks, CGE will be sending out a bargaining survey that will inform our bargaining team. If you are interested in becoming a member of the bargaining team, please contact our VP of Collective Bargaining and Grievances, Danny Ritter, at vp_bargaining@cge6069.org.
This is obviously a huge victory that was not achieved by a small handful of people. Hundreds of graduate employees made this happen. Whether you simply had a short conversation with your lab mate, kept yourself informed on the campaign, or volunteered your time–everyone made a difference in this campaign.
Thank you for all the contributions you made throughout the duration of this campaign!
In Solidarity,
Wren Keturi
President, CGE, AFT Local 6069
CGE Activists at the Salem Employment Relations Board after winning the election.
