Students Against Duke Unionization

03/29/2017

http://cornellsun.com/2017/03/29/union-election-results-too-close-to-call/

Although 856 votes were cast in favor of unionization and 919 were cast against, there were 81 votes that were not counted for various reasons — enough to make up the deficit for union supporters.…

03/01/2017

This afternoon the radio station WUNC reported on the outcome of the recent election. Here is a transcript of the broadcast:

"Graduate students at Duke University voted in large numbers against unionizing last week, but a significant number of votes have not yet been counted. Votes against the union won by a margin of almost 3-hundred ballots. University officials and union organizers are challenging the eligibility of an additional 5-hundred-and-2 votes. That could be enough to sway the election. Duke University professor Dan Bowling specializes in labor law. He says the National Labor Relations Board will determine the eligibility of voters who were not employed this semester.

"I will say that both from a legal standpoint and just the facts on the ground, where the votes stand, the union at Duke faces a very steep uphill battle ever to get certified."

Bowling says the outcome could impact federal policy that allows graduate students to form unions. Graduate students at other universities, like Yale and Harvard, have also held union votes."

02/25/2017

No gets 691 votes over yes's 398. Duke PhDs have spoken! Final outcome TBD after reckoning of 502 ballots contested by both Duke and SEIU.

02/25/2017

We are pleased with the results of the election, which prove that graduate students are united in support of our current arrangement. We recognize that each graduate student has different responsibilities, funding sources, and circumstances and we hope that if this issue returns in the future, more care and consideration are given to the definition of the bargaining unit. Preserving the full range of options for graduate students is important to us, and we're excited about this clear decision.

02/21/2017

Don't forget to vote! Ballots must be received by the NLRB by Friday morning. There's still time to vote no! SEIU is

02/15/2017

This union would make SEIU the sole representative of Duke PhD students for collective bargaining. Do we trust them? Is it really OUR union?

02/14/2017

This photo album is a collection of evidence that we as graduate students have collected exhibiting how supporters of DGSU/SEIU have vandalized our posters. Regardless of what you believe about the union, this kind of behavior is blatantly against the spirit of open discussion and the free market of ideas that should govern academia and our university. At a union contract meeting, do we really want to risk these students' voices representing us? Do you think they will be open to hearing your opinion about what your needs are as a graduate student? Do you want to have your contract with Duke depend on whether or not you can convince them to agree with you? At a union meeting, the loudest voice in the room will dominate, not the most rational one.

02/14/2017

[Scroll down to see list of workers who have decertified from SEIU since 2010]

If SEIU wins, we have to wait three years before we can attempt to decertify. Then, students will have to initiate and organize a petition drive to gather signatures of 30% of the bargaining unit to authorize an NLRB decertification election, which we would then have to win. Only 50% of decertification petitions go to vote and only 25% of these succeed in getting rid of the union with SEIU. SEIU lawyers will fight this every step of the way. In fact, SEIU is notorious for fighting decertification attempts (and retalliating against workers who organize them). That workers who vote for SEIU nevertheless manage to decertify speaks to the profound dissatisfaction they have with this "union." Here is a list of successful decertifications since 2010:

October 2016:
250 workers at College Hospital Cerritos (Southern California) voted to go non-union after being in SEIU only three years.

June 2016:
900 Fresno County corrections officers in Fresno (Central California) voted to dump SEIU and form an independent union.

June 2016:
479 school employees in San Diego (California) voted to get out of SEIU and form independent union.

Summer 2015:
300 clinic workers in the San Jose Medical Group (California) voted to get out of SEIU and go non-union.

August 2015:
880 Fresno County employees (California) voted to get out of SEIU and form independent union.

February 2015:
98 nursing home workers at Bay Area Health Care Center (Oakland) voted to get out of SEIU and go non-union.

December 2014:
Employees at Garden Grove Hospital (Southern California) filed a petition to get out of SEIU, but SEIU has blocked the election for nearly two years.

March 2014:
700 workers at Seton Medical Center (Daly City, California) voted to get out of SEIU and join National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).

January 2014:
377 employees of the Coachella Valley Water District (Central California) voted to get out of SEIU and join independent union.

December 2013:
65 nursing home workers at the San Rafael Nursing Center (San Rafael, California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

November 2013:
160 health care workers at the Santa Rita Jail (Alameda County, California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

July 2013:
270 San Diego County employees voted to get out of SEIU and join independent union.

June 2013:
370 Northern California Kaiser Optical workers voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

February 2013:
650 Kings County employees (Central California) voted to get out of SEIU and join independent union.

November 2012:
272 San Diego County employees voted to get out of SEIU and join independent union.

November 2012:
600 employees of the St. Charles Hospital System in Bend, Oregon voted to get out of SEIU and go non-union.

October 2012:
200 employees of Brown University (Rhode Island) voted to get out of SEIU and form independent union.

October 2012:
215 employees of Amador County (California) voted to get out of SEIU and join independent union.

October 2012:
2300 EMS workers in a dozen California counties voted to get out of SEIU.

September 2012:
500 EMS workers in Massachusetts voted to get out of SEIU.

September 2012:
70 employees of the Mission Neighborhood Health Clinic (San Francisco) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW
September 2012:
120 residential care employees of Piedmont Gardens and Grand Lake Gardens (Oakland) voted to get out of SEIU and go non-union.

June 2012:
175 employees of the Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital (Hollister, California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

June 2012:
186 nursing home workers at O’Connor Woods (Stockton, California) voted to get out of SEIU and go non-union.

May 2012:
450 employees of Children’s Hospital Oakland (California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

January 2012:
92 techs at Hackney Hospital (Muskegon, Michigan) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

December 2011:
200 Lab workers at St. Michael’s Hospital (Toronto, Ontario) voted to get out of SEIU and join the Ontario Workers Union.

December 2011:
402 employees of the San Diego Regional Center voted to get out of SEIU and join independent union. They were preceded in leaving SEIU by employees of the City of San Marcos, the San Diego Community College District, the City of La Mesa, the San Diego County Probation Officers, and the San Diego County Crafts Unit.

November 2011:
450 Los Angeles City Attorneys voted to get of SEIU and join independent union.

November 2011:
263 employees of Moulure Alexandria Moulding (Ontario, Canada) voted to get out of SEIU and join independent union.

November 2011:
160 nursing home workers at Woods Park Nursing Centre (Barrie, Ontario) voted to get out of SEIU and join Ontario Workers Union.

September 2011:
80 nursing home workers at Luther Manor (Michigan) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

September 2011:
700 city employees in Tempe, Arizona voted to get out of SEIU and form independent union.

August 2011:
350 employees of the Humber River Regional Hospital (Ontario, Canada) voted to get out of SEIU.

July 2011:
276 clerical workers of the William Osler Hospital (Ontario, Canada) voted to get out of SEIU.

July 2011:
300 employees of the Humber River Regional Hospital (Ontario, Canada) voted to get out of SEIU.

June 2011:
City workers in the cities of Tulare, Corcoran and Exeter (Central California) voted to get out of SEIU.

May 2011:
750 employees of the California Pacific Medical Center (San Francisco’s biggest hospital) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

March 2011:
75 nursing home workers at Woodland Skilled Nursing Center (California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

March 2011:
65 nursing home workers at Cottonwood Health Care Center (California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

January 2011:
80 employees at Kindred Hospital San Leandro (California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

November 2010:
Over 800 Kaiser Behavioral Health professionals and 300 Kaiser Optical workers (Northern California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

October 2010:
Over 900 service and tech employees at Salinas Valley Memorial (California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

July 2010:
Over 400 employees of the Tarzana Medical Center (Southern California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

May 2010:
550 employees of the Keck-USC Medical Center (Los Angeles) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

May 2010:
1464 employees of Marin County (California) voted to get out of SEIU and form independent union.

May 2010:
38 food service workers at Keck-USC Medical Center (Los Angeles) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

May 2010:
40 housekeeping and food service workers at Lakewood Regional Hospital (Southern California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

April 2010:
50 nursing home workers at Convalescent Center (San Francisco) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

January 2010:
2000 RNs and health professional in Kaiser (Southern California) voted to get out of SEIU and join the NUHW.

02/14/2017

SEIU/DGSU has posted a letter from Bernie Sanders which encourages Duke students to vote "yes." It should be noted that SEIU is using the letter to suggest two things:

1) That Bernie has taken a very personal interest in our situation at Duke and 2) that Bernie is willing to forgive SEIU for giving Hillary lots of money to defeat him in the primaries.

It turns out that what Bernie released to Duke students was a simple form letter that he has used before, with only minor modifications:
http://action.seiu.org/page/-/Adjuncts/St%20Michael's%20Adjunct%20Letter%20(1).pdf andhttp://www.columbiagradunion.org/wp-content/uploads/BernieSanders-20161202.pdf

There is nothing in Bernie's letter to suggest that he actually researched or understands how good we have it at Duke. Secondly, there is no evidence that Bernie realizes that we are voting to affiliate with SEIU. Unlike his other letters, Bernie does not mention the union by name. He may have been under the impression that we are trying to form an independent union, like other graduate students have done before.

Furthermore, we remind you this union issue should not be centered around past/future presidential candidates and rather should be focused on the matter at hand: whether or not we want SEIU to represent us.

02/13/2017

It's time to vote! Mark your choice (we hope it's a "no"!), sign the yellow envelope, and mail it back by Feb. 24. SEIU is .

02/09/2017

REMINDER!

We have two informational meetings today:

1:30-2:30 pm (Gross Hall, room 107)

OR

3:30-4:30 pm (Bryan Research, room 103)

Try and come out for some last minute facts!

02/08/2017