NLRB should not grant graduate student unionization

With the pending decision from the National Labor Relations Board in regards to the unionization of Tufts graduate students, time has come to reevaluate whether or not unionization is a wise move. After nearly two years of efforts aimed at unionization, it appears that the members of the Association for Student Employees at Tufts (ASET) have been moving in the wrong direction. President Bacow's opinion that graduate students would be more successful in getting their needs met without unionization is right on target.

Unionization of graduate students would create yet another layer of red tape that would hinder, rather than help, the communication process between graduate students and the University. Traditional organization (not unionization) would be an effective, non-combative tool in dealing with graduate student issues, whatever they may be. In the end, graduate students simply need to be united, not unionized.

On a related note, if the members of ASET feel that there is a dire need for a negotiating body, then where is the proof that they have been unsuccessful in using the tools and organizations that already exist? It does not seem that all of the graduate student resources have been exhausted to the point that would necessitate unionization.

The idea of a union of graduate students undermines the very essence of being a student, as opposed to becoming a member of the regular workforce. Graduate students, though employed, are at Tufts to do research and to assist in teaching, while they study. No part of the decision to become a graduate student at any university is based on the fact that it would be a good way to make ends meet. Undertaking graduate school is a noble calling, but it is also unfortunately and inherently, a financial strain. Still, that hardship does not mean that graduate school should start to look like a workplace, as opposed to an academic institution.

The issues that ASET intends to pursue through unionization are issues that are central to employees as a workplace, not to students at an academic institution. Using ASET's logic, it wouldn't be out of the question to say that undergraduates who have to take out loans and on-campus jobs to make ends meet could also unionize. Of course, this wouldn't make sense to anyone, since students are Tufts are here to be students, and not employees. They are here to develop rich academic relationships with full professors, not to be employed by them. They chose to study at a university before entering the workforce, and this implies certain lifestyle differences and even sacrifices.

Unionization efforts at other schools, including Cornell, have already been struck down, even before a formal decision by the NLRB, and the same may happen at Tufts. The period of waiting and preparing for whatever decision is reached is an opportunity for the graduate students here to explore other avenues for negotiation with the University, if negotiation is even critical at this juncture. This is a time to reflect on the role of the student as a person with academic responsibilities and privileges, and not as a full time employee. This is Tufts Univ., not Tufts, Inc.