FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2017
For more information contact Joseph Moore (732-948-5718 / moorjo86@gmail.com)
Columbia, Missouri – The Coalition of Graduate Workers (CGW), as the elected exclusive representative of the University of Missouri’s approximately 2,700 graduate employees, looks forward to working productively with newly-appointed Chancellor Dr. Alexander Cartwright on issues surrounding graduate student employment and well-being at Mizzou.
In his previous role, Dr. Cartwright served as provost and executive vice chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY), where graduate student employees system-wide are unionized under the Communication Workers of America Local 1104 – Graduate Student Employee Union. SUNY recognized its graduate student employees’ union in 1992 and has since successfully negotiated contracts securing basic protections for graduate workers, including guaranteed compensation levels, health insurance, grievance procedures, and workplace health and safety provisions.
It is our sincere hope that Dr. Cartwright will bring this enlightened and constructive approach to graduate student employee labor rights with him to Mizzou. Years of unnecessary conflict have cost University leadership the goodwill of their employees – now is the time for a fresh start. It is clear to us and many campus constituencies that long-term stability and institutional health can only be achieved by good faith bargaining between graduate employees and administration.
Signed,
Coordinating Committee, Coalition of Graduate Workers
###
The Coalition of Graduate Workers (CGW) represents the 2,700 graduate employees of the University of Missouri, Columbia. CGW is an affiliate of the Missouri National Education Association.
Coalition of Graduate Workers 