Delivered Monday, February 28th, 2022
February 28, 2022
Joseph M. McShane President, Fordham University Office of the President 441 East Fordham Road Bronx, NY 10458
Dear President McShane:
We are writing to inform you that a majority of the graduate student workers in Fordham’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences have signed union authorization cards indicating our desire to be represented by the Communications Workers of America (“CWA”) for the purpose of collective bargaining. We ask that you recognize CWA as our collective bargaining representative and adopt a stance of neutrality. Should you want proof that the union enjoys majority support, we would be happy to submit the signed authorization cards to a mutually-agreeable neutral third party for verification.
By choosing to unionize, we are upholding the University’s commitment to cura personalis and the Catholic Church’s historical commitment to social justice, especially the Church’s unequivocal support for the right of workers to unionize. We look forward to being afforded the same rights and dignity as the contingent faculty were given in 2017 when the University adopted a stance of neutrality regarding Fordham Faculty United’s decision to organize. As you said then:
“… we have initiated discussion with the union over the University adopting a stance of neutrality regarding the organization of our adjunct faculty. I have become convinced of the rightness of this course of action over the last few months by conversations with my fellow Jesuits. After all, organized labor has deep roots in Catholic social justice teachings. And though this is an issue that many universities are facing—not all of which have come to the same decision—given its Jesuit traditions and historic connection to first-generation and working-class students, Fordham has a special duty in this area.”
We trust that Fordham will again recognize its duty to our community. Graduate worker unions are the norm among New York City universities: New York University, Columbia University, the CUNY and SUNY systems, and The New School all have graduate student worker unions. Even among our peer Jesuit institutions such as Georgetown University, graduate workers have a union. We hope Fordham University will not be an outlier.
We have enclosed our vision statement for an explanation of our desire to unionize. We have also filed for an election at the National Labor Relations Board but can withdraw the petition should you agree to recognize our union majority now. Please respond by communicating with CWA Organizing Coordinator Erin Mahoney at emahoney@cwa-union.org.
We respectfully ask for neutrality and voluntary recognition of this majority so we can begin to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement, a process we believe will be amicable and serve to strengthen the Fordham community.
Sincerely,
Fordham Graduate Student Workers
