The university’s administration and a graduate student organization seeking to unionize at Cornell presented a joint statement at the April 13 meeting of the Faculty Senate, on their ongoing work toward a tentative agreement on rules of conduct.

The agreement is being negotiated in anticipation of campus discussions around Cornell Graduate Students United (CGSU) and a possible election regarding formation of a recognized union for collective bargaining purposes, should federal law governing graduate student unions at private universities change.

“We’re committed to putting the practice of shared governance and democratic decision-making into action,” said CGSU member Michaela Brangan, a fifth-year English Ph.D. candidate.

A sanctioned election regarding a union may occur if graduate student assistants become recognized under federal labor law as employees of the university.

“In 2002, we were in a similar situation,” said Barbara A. Knuth, senior vice provost and dean of the Graduate School. “We came to an agreement with a student group at that time to hold an election. With about a 90 percent turnout of eligible voters, the union was not supported by the student vote. The current university position is that, should federal law change, the question of a graduate student collective bargaining unit through a union should be decided by a legally sanctioned election, so that all students who would be included in the bargaining unit have an opportunity to vote.”

Another election at Cornell may occur if the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) overturns a 2004 ruling involving Brown University. Current legal precedent under the NLRB confirms the non-employee status of graduate student assistants at private universities, and is being contested in legal actions involving Columbia University and the New School of Social Research in New York City.

“Ph.D. coursework, research and teaching are an integrated educational experience and are components of each student’s progression toward earning a degree,” Knuth said. “Cornell’s position is not anti-union; instead, Cornell’s position is that the existing federal labor law … accurately reflects existing realities in higher education.”

Provost and Acting President Michael Kotlikoff said the “rules of engagement” now being developed will establish standards of fairness in faculty-student discussions, “as the graduate students are allowed to make an informed decision.”

The joint statement, read by Katryn Evinson, a second-year Ph.D. candidate in Romance studies, said, in part, that CGSU and the university have been working since mid-December on the conduct rules as a common guide for all concerned, as a vote on unionization comes closer to being a possibility, and that “our negotiations have been setting a positive tone.”

“We believe that by proactively building a productive and considerate working relationship between the union and the university now, such a relationship will carry over into negotiations” regarding collective bargaining, if Cornell graduate student assistants select CGSU to represent them.

Both Cornell and CGSU, the statement concludes, “are committed to building a relationship that is aligned with Cornell’s core value of being a ‘collaborative, collegial and caring community’ as well as its roles as a leader in labor relations education and as the land-grant university of New York state.”

“I think it’s important to remember that these are our Cornell students,” Knuth said after the meeting. “No matter what happens with Brown, no matter what happens if ultimately there’s an election, we want to maintain a respectful, dignified climate for student-faculty discussions.”