Who we are

We are graduate students at Cornell University who are not anti-union, but who oppose CGSU’s demand to impose a union shop, a policy that will require all graduate students to pay dues to a political oganization as a condition of earning a Cornell degree. In addition to infringement of academic freedom and freedom of association, we have concerns about certifying UE (United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America) as our bargaining representative. We are concerned about the financial imprudence of this decision, our compulsory endorsement of UE’s international political agenda, and the lack of transparency, undemocratic operation, and unprofessional conduct within CGSU (Cornell Graduate Students United). You can find our detailed concerns throughout this site. 

Union shop is illegal in all public sector unions, which includes grad student unions at public universities, and in all workplaces in more than half of the states. However, it is fully within Cornell's bargaining power, as a private institution, to either force its grad students to endorse a political third party in order to carry out our research or to protect our academic freedom to choose their own political and representational affiliations. Due to Cornell's decision to remain silent, many grad students and faculty are completely in the dark about union shop, and the only source of information available is CGSU-UE's very own material promoting the policy. We created this website to provide grad students with maximal information from both sides before we make important decisions about our contract and our freedoms in an academic workplace.

We are also writing to the Cornell administration to express our concerns about the proposed union shop and to encourage them to prioritize Cornell's core values over financial expediency. If you support the right of graduate students to freely choose political affiliations for ourselves, read our open letter to Cornell's administration and sign your name (you may remain anonymous).

What does "Cornell United" mean?

It doesn't mean we all agree about everything! We are a diverse group of students representing many worldviews and backgrounds with political opinions across the spectrum. Each of us has unique objections to the CGSU-UE status quo at Cornell, informed by our equally unique experiences and values, but we are united about one thing: union shop is the wrong way for Cornell.