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We are the Students for the Freedom to Unionize
Workplace Democracy
Created on 2005-03-26 14:56:19 (#6580388), last updated 2006-01-17
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Basic Info| Name: | Students for the Freedom to Unionize (SFU) |
|---|---|
| Location: | Amherst, Massachusetts, United States |
BioWho We Are
Since the fall of 2004, Students for the Freedom to Unionize (SFU) has been working to make Hampshire College a place that explicitly affirms workers’ rights, particularly the right to unionize. We have been endeavoring to educate the Hampshire campus about workplace issues at the college, such as the history of union drives on campus and the administration’s role in their defeat. In union drives during the 1990s, Hampshire College hired the well-known union-busting law firm Skoler, Abbott, and Presser and put pressure on union organizers and college employees to defeat the campaigns. Hampshire now has the unique opportunity to make union-neutrality and workers’ rights an explicit guiding principle.
Our Goals
Our group wants to see Hampshire College publicly declare its commitment to “union-neutrality.” Union neutrality means that the administration will take no position for or against the organization of a union, as it is entirely up to the employees to decide amongst themselves whether to unionize. Union-neutrality could be guaranteed by the signing of a union neutrality agreement, a legally binding document guaranteeing that the administration would refrain from intimidation or coercion of employees in their decisions on whether to unionize.
Our Activities:
During the search for Hampshire’s next president last year, SFU was active in communicating our desire to see a union-neutral president selected by the search committee. We held a teach-in on February 8, 2005 about the history of labor struggles at Hampshire, a recording of which is available. In Fall 2004, we placed a question on whether to support selecting a union-neutral president in an all-community vote, and it passed by a wide margin. In Spring 2005, we held a student staff picnic to introduce ourselves and celebrate what the staff does for us. Recently we met with the new president Ralph Hexter to discuss his position on union-neutrality. We are now doing a project to self-educate and spread understanding of labor issues on campus through interviews and publications in the school newspaper.
We will be sending out updates on our activities on our general list: hcsfu@lists.riseup.net
To join or to get is touch, contact: union_neutral@yahoo.com
Since the fall of 2004, Students for the Freedom to Unionize (SFU) has been working to make Hampshire College a place that explicitly affirms workers’ rights, particularly the right to unionize. We have been endeavoring to educate the Hampshire campus about workplace issues at the college, such as the history of union drives on campus and the administration’s role in their defeat. In union drives during the 1990s, Hampshire College hired the well-known union-busting law firm Skoler, Abbott, and Presser and put pressure on union organizers and college employees to defeat the campaigns. Hampshire now has the unique opportunity to make union-neutrality and workers’ rights an explicit guiding principle.
Our Goals
Our group wants to see Hampshire College publicly declare its commitment to “union-neutrality.” Union neutrality means that the administration will take no position for or against the organization of a union, as it is entirely up to the employees to decide amongst themselves whether to unionize. Union-neutrality could be guaranteed by the signing of a union neutrality agreement, a legally binding document guaranteeing that the administration would refrain from intimidation or coercion of employees in their decisions on whether to unionize.
Our Activities:
During the search for Hampshire’s next president last year, SFU was active in communicating our desire to see a union-neutral president selected by the search committee. We held a teach-in on February 8, 2005 about the history of labor struggles at Hampshire, a recording of which is available. In Fall 2004, we placed a question on whether to support selecting a union-neutral president in an all-community vote, and it passed by a wide margin. In Spring 2005, we held a student staff picnic to introduce ourselves and celebrate what the staff does for us. Recently we met with the new president Ralph Hexter to discuss his position on union-neutrality. We are now doing a project to self-educate and spread understanding of labor issues on campus through interviews and publications in the school newspaper.
We will be sending out updates on our activities on our general list: hcsfu@lists.riseup.net
To join or to get is touch, contact: union_neutral@yahoo.com
ConnectInterests (9):
activism, collective bargaining, hampshire college, hampshire history, justice, labor rights, union-neutrality, unions, workplace democracy
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