​Students against Duke unionization

To the Regional Director of the NLRB,

We write this open letter to express concerns regarding the recent effort by SEIU to unionize Duke graduate students. Statements made by SEIU over the course of the Duke-SEIU hearing fail to appreciate the diversity of study and research conducted by the graduate student body at Duke University. This is particularly apparent in discussions of the proposed bargaining unit, which includes teaching assistants (TAs) and research assistants (RAs) from all departments. The Duke graduate student population is incredibly diverse, spanning over 70 departments and six campuses. As students, we have a particular appreciation for how diversity of thought and research contributes to a vibrant and thriving intellectual community. If the different needs of our peers are not appreciated, and are instead masked by an inappropriately large bargaining unit, the growth of our community will be inhibited and we will be unable to unify towards common goals as a union.

Many RAs are supported by their advisors through federal research grants, while TAs are not. Federal regulations allow grant money to be spent to support a student’s graduate school tuition, provided that that student’s stipend is also paid from the same grant. If such a student were to strike, he/she would then not be able have tuition paid from a grant, which would open up the possibility of having to pay tuition directly. This aspect of grant-supported student funding is not present for TAs and thus TAs and RAs are fundamentally in a different bargaining circumstance when it comes to union negotiations. We believe that SEIU is unaware and unequipped to address these nuanced aspects of representing graduate students as evidenced by the inappropriately defined bargaining unit they have proposed.

Additionally, we have strong concerns over the behavior that many students have encountered during the campaign to unionize. Many students like us, who have expressed concern over the potential disadvantages of a union, have observed and/or experienced harassment, bullying, and vandalism by students who support unionization. SEIU’s failure to condemn such acts of aggression and rush to push a vote before all members of the bargaining party are informed suggests that it does not share the ideals students hold dearest, and consequently, is unfit to represent our interests. Further, SEIU has actively worked to discourage other unions from pursuing Duke graduate students as a potential unionization group. This behavior is fundamentally opposed to the academic ideals of intellectual inquiry and open discussion. As academics in the Duke community, we are bound to act with greater integrity and to fully consider all available options without being rushed into an inappropriately defined bargaining unit due to a lack of awareness of alternatives.

Finally, many of us are not certain that our primary classification should be as an “employee” during our graduate studies. While we split our working hours between working (as researchers and teachers) and studying (as students), our primary goal and qualification at Duke is to be a degree-seeking student and thus academic pursuits remain our primary focus throughout our tenure. If this argument is unconvincing, please also consider logistic difficulty associated with unionizing workers who have such a high turnover-rate, as this will make a union largely ineffective.

In summary, we must insist that each university treats its graduate students differently and our experiences and analysis strongly indicate to us that the findings of the Columbia case do not apply to all graduate students at Duke University. We ask that the effort by SEIU to unionize Duke graduate students be invalidated in its current form due to the fact that the defined bargaining unit, which includes all TAs and RAs from all departments, is inappropriate in the context of the stipulations of the National Labor Relations Act. We hope that you will consider our sentiments and we welcome further discussion with you throughout this process.

Thank you,

Signatures of Ph.D. Students:

Tamara Silbergleit Lehman | 4^th year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Jennifer Link Schwabe | 6^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Chemistry

Daniel Reichman | 4^th year Ph.D Candidate | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Brad Wood | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | History Department

Joseph Camilo | 4^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Roberto Zecca | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Trisha Dupnock | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Civil and Environmental Engineering

Rachel Lea Ballantyne | 3^rd year M.D./Ph.D. Graduate Student | Medicine/Computer Science

Felix Nwogbo | 4^th year | Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Chemistry

Michael Ryan Clifford Dibble | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Department of Chemistry

Meghan Lawler | 3^rd year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Chemistry

Patrick Bowen | 4^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Tri Nguyen | 4^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Chemistry

Joseph Simon | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Biomedical Engineering

Valerie Gartner | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | University Program in Genetics and Genomics

Kelsey Morgan | 2^nd year Ph.D. student | Department of Chemistry

Caslin Gilroy | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Biomedical Engineering

Sara Payne | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Cell Biology

Melanie Short | 4^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Chemistry

Katharine Korunes | 3^rd year Ph.D. Candidate | University Program in Genetics and Genomics, Biology

Allan Castillo | 3^rd year Ph.D. Candidate | Biology Department

Chris Eckersley | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Department of Biomedical Engineering

Nicholas Czarnek | 5^th year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Christian Nadell | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Tejank Shah | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Department of Biomedical Engineering

Qing Tu | 6^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Edgar Andres Virguez | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Nicholas School of the Environment

Aaron Diebold | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Nicholas Caira | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Ali Razeen | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Computer Science

Zachary Widel | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Department of Chemistry

Katherine Alser | 6^th year Ph.D. Student | Department of Chemistry

Jeffrey Miles Blackburn | 4^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Chemistry

Zhihui Cheng | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Katherine Price | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Xi He | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Computer Science

Steven Gary Noyce | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Katelyn Flint | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Department of Biomedical Engineering

John Decker | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Department of Biomedical Engineering

Xander Deputy | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Jennifer Hennigan | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Department of Chemistry

Yuh-Chen Lin | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Jon William Stewart | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Emily Bowie | 3^rd year Ph.D. Candidate | University Program in Genetics and Genomics

Joshua Hammer | 4^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Biomedical Engineering

Ilker Nadi Bozkurt | 5^th year Ph.D. Student | Department of Computer Science

Natalia Neal-Walthall | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Civil and Environmental Engineering

Siddharth Kawadiya | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Civil and Environmental Engineering

Jacob Timmerman | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Chemistry

Daniel Joh | 3^rd year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Biomedical Engineering

Kelsey Deaton | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Civil and Environmental Engineering

Ios Kotsogiannis | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Computer Science

John G. Ganley | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Department of Chemistry

Stephen Siecinski | 3^rd year Ph.D. Candidate | University Program in Genetics and Genomics

Grace Beggs | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Biochemistry Department

Joel Nils Bjornstad | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

E. Tomas Barraza | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Spencer Ferguson | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Wade Wilson | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Austin Talbot | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Department of Statistics

Nabil Abboud | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Civil and Environmental Engineering

Aaron Forbis-Stokes | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Civil and Environmental Engineering

Qixin Shen | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Department of Physics

Vinay Gowda | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Marc Johnson | 4^th year Ph.D. Student | Pharmacology/Cancer Biology

Evan Alexander Stump | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Gregory Spell | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Dmitry Kalika | 5^th year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Abigail Jackson | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Department of Chemistry

Andrew Cardin | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Jeff Schaal | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Biomedical Engineering

Andrew Boyce | 1^st year, Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Nabil Atallah | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Civil and Environmental Engineering

Wenqi Wang | 2^nd year Ph.D. Candidate | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Junfei Li | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Yiqian Mao | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Weifeng Huang | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Qiwei Zhan | 4^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Runren Zhang | 2^nd year Ph.D. Candidate | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Insang Yoo | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Zhiqin Huang | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Chenqi Zhao |1^st year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Yuan Fang | 4^th year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering

Xiaojun Liu | 4^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Electrical and Computer Engineering

William Heffley | 4^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Neurobiology

Tiffany G. Wilson | 8^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Civil and Environmental Engineering

Garrett Kelly | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Department of Biomedical Engineering

Isaac Lavine | 1^st year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Statistical Science

Richard Mortensen | 6^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Biology Department

Sara Maurer | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

Ran Huo | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Department of Mathematics

Brianne Dudiak | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Department of Chemistry

Anna Hatstat | 1^st year Ph.D. Student | Department of Chemistry

George Bullard | 3^rd year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Chemistry

Cameron Brown | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department of Chemistry

Samuel Alvarez | 5^th year Ph.D. Candidate | Department Chemistry

Xiaomeng Jia | 2^nd year Ph.D. Student | Physics Department

Ziqiang Huang | 3^rd year Ph.D. Student | Electrical and Computer Engineering