This is an exciting time in our union! We have a chance to elect a diverse group of student representatives to engage in negotiations with the WPI administration as members of our Bargaining Committee. This group will work to achieve stability and security in our pay and benefits, better protections against sexual harassment and assault, better protections for international students, and many other improvements for student workers at WPI. We hope you will read the below Notice of Nomination and Election for the WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee carefully and will consider running for a Bargaining Committee position.
| NOTICE OF NOMINATION AND ELECTION FOR THE UNION BARGAINING COMMITTEE (FIVE POSITIONS) |
November 10th, 2022
TLDR:
- If you want to run for the bargaining committee (BC), reply to this email accepting nomination by Monday Nov 21, 2022 at 11:59pm.
- Include a candidate statement of no more than 250 words.
- Our BC will be responsible for bargaining our contract with the WPI admins.
Nominations are hereby declared open for the WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee (written five [5] positions):
All eligible unit members who have signed a WPI-GWU authorization card are automatically nominated for the WPI-GWU Bargaining Committee.
Eligibility Description (per the NLRB unit description):
Any WPI graduate students who are currently employed by the university according to the categories outlined by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) WPI election (i.e., All graduate students enrolled at Worcester Polytechnic Institute who are employed to provide instructional services, research services or administrative services in academic departments. These include Teaching Assistants (such as teaching assistants, PLAs, GLAs, readers, tutors, and graders), all Graduate Assistants and all graduate Research Assistants (regardless of funding sources) employed by the Employer).
Also eligible are students who are not currently employed, but were employed in the bargaining unit for at least the Spring Semester of 2022 or the Fall Semester of 2022.
The Bargaining Committee will have five (5) positions with two jurisdictions:
- One (1) being an hourly worker and;
- Four (4) being salary/stipend worker
All members of the Bargaining Committee are considered At-Large, meaning all voters in the election may cast ballots for written five (5) candidates and all committee members represent all workers regardless of jurisdiction.
Any eligible Union authorization card signatory who wishes to accept the nomination for one of the written five (5) Bargaining Committee positions listed above must indicate their intention in writing by electronic scan (pdf) or photograph attachment. Included should be the jurisdiction they intend to run for which they are eligible.
The acceptance of nomination for the specified position above must be received no later than 11:59pm ET on Monday November 21, 2022: WPI-GWU Elections by email to wpi.gwu@gmail.com.
Go to our website for details about the responsibilities of Bargaining Committee members: https://wpigradunion.org/bargaining/bargaining-committee-responsibilities/
Candidate Statements
Each candidate may write and submit a candidate statement of no more than 250 words. These statements will be posted on the WPI-GWU website if there are contested elections. Phone number and email address must be included, but will not be counted toward the 250 words.
It is the responsibility of the candidate to submit the candidate statement. All candidate statements must be received by the time nominations close at 11:59pm ET on Monday, November 21, 2022. (See some example candidate statements from the Mt. Sinai PostDoc Bargaining Committee).
Election Dates, Times and Locations
In the event that the number of eligible candidates who accept nomination for the specified position do not exceed the number of open positions (written five [5] positions, respecting jurisdictional requirements), such candidates will be deemed elected by acclamation and no election will be held.
If there are contested positions, elections would take place on November 28th electronically from 10am-8pm.
A runoff election, if necessary, will be held on Wednesday, November 30th, 10am-6pm. A runoff is only necessary if any winning candidate does not receive a majority of the votes.
In solidarity,
WPI-GWU Elections Committee