New York University’s Bobst Library (Image via Google Maps)
Council Speaker Christine Quinn and other elected officials will meet with teaching assistants trying to unionize at New York University this afternoon.
UAW, the graduate student organizing committee, wants to form its own union.
Quinn, who supports the students’ unionizing efforts, will be delivering a letter alongside other officials to NYU President John Sexton, asking NYU to agree to a fair process for unionization. The politicians and students will meet at the university’s Elmer Holmes Bobst Library by Washington Square.
Teaching assistants have been trying to unionize at the university through UAW, their organization for teaching, research and graduate assistants.
“Graduate employees at NYU deserve a real say in the conditions of our work,” their website explains.
The students’ concerns include wages, benefits and safety conditions in university labs.
“We think we can do better,” the students say on the site.
More than 1,000 first asked New York University in 2010 to recognize them as a union, which the school did not do.
Follow Alison Bowen on Twitter @reporteralison
