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UNM files to block graduate student union’s right to organize By Ana Straight @StraightAna
On Dec. 9, graduate student employees at the University of New Mexico officially filed for union recognition with the state Public Employees Labor Relations Board (PELRB). The grad student employees submitted signed cards from a supermajority (60%) of all UNM fall 2020 graduate student workers, and on Dec. 11 the executive director of the PELRB issued a letter finding the petition was “facially valid” and was “supported by a sufficient showing of interest.” In response, UNM filed a petition blocking the unionization request on two grounds: 1) that teaching, research and other graduate “assistants” are not actually employees and 2) if they are in fact employees, then their individual job descriptions are so vastly different that they cannot function as one bargaining unit. UNM argued that because
graduate students receive semester-long contracts and are not guaranteed those contracts from semester to semester, they do not fit the definition of a “regular” employee “whose employment is for a definite period of time.” UNM cited a rule — proposed during the Trump administration — that would strip graduate student employees’ rights at private institutions and advised the PELRB to address the matter similarly across the state’s public universities. The proposed rule states that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was intended to govern “economic relationships, not those that are primarily educational in nature,” UNM’s petition said. According to the union organizing committee, graduate student employees work at all hours of the day and night teaching classes, preparing lectures, grading papers and performing research. Much of this work is done without direct supervision and often replaces the roles of other employees on campus (for
example, teaching an undergraduate course that would otherwise be taught by a unionized faculty member). Cinnamon Blair, UNM’s chief marketing and communications officer, said although the University values graduate students that serve as teachers, researchers and collaborators, “the primary purpose of (their) payment is to provide financial support to allow them to continue their studies.” Blair went on to add that graduate student employees’ “primary role is as a student, and we do not believe that the remuneration they receive moves them into the status of ‘regular employee’ as defined in the laws of the state of New Mexico.” UNM also included a secondary argument in its petition: In the event that the PELRB does recognize that graduate student employees are actually employees and not simply furthering their educations, bargaining units are expected to be based on “occupational groups or clear and
More stimulus money for students, but timing remains uncertain
identifiable communities of interest” and graduate student employees have “disparate duties, responsibilities, functions, lengths and terms of employment, productivity expectations, funding sources and levels of compensation.” Union organizers suggested that the University’s anti-employee, anti-union stance is not in line with the values of the state’s current elected leadership. “It is incredibly disappointing to see our employer cite a proposed rule from the anti-worker Trump labor board to rationalize denying us our right to form a union,” Samantha Cooney, a graduate assistant and political science PhD candidate, said. “The right to organize and bargain collectively is a human right and a core tenet of academic freedom. We hope the UNM administration will drop this obstruction and focus on the real issue of improving the working conditions of its employees.” Alana Block, a member of the graduate student employee or-
ganizing committee, teaching assistant and American studies PhD candidate, stated that better health coverage — including dental and vision for graduate students — a raise for their minimum monthly stipends, better coverage for spouses and children, and security and protections for international and undocumented students are among the improvements the group plans to negotiate for if they are granted the right to unionize. At other public universities, recognized graduate student employees have been able to organize and unions have achieved livable wages and proper treatment and benefits. At the University of Iowa, for example, “there is a long history of union efforts, and we see that it has positively impacted grad students to have higher stipends; they can pay their rent, they can buy food, they don’t have to worry about what they’re going to do from semester to semester,”
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Grad Union page 3
see State
Police, National Guard troops patrol Roundhouse in response to FBI warnings page 2
Estimated $9 million in pandemic grants forthcoming for UNM students
By Liam DeBonis @LiamDeBonis College students are set to receive a second round of direct payments through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) following the passage of a coronavirus stimulus package in December. In April of 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided $8.6 million to the University of New Mexico to be distributed as emergency relief grants for students. Undergraduate students were awarded a sum of either $465 or $779, depending on their expected family contribution. The recent stimulus package included renewed funding for the
HEERF and once again directed that a portion of the funding be set aside by higher education institutions for grants to be paid directly to students to aid with pandemicrelated hardships. UNM’s model for distributing the new funds, however, is currently unknown. Brian Malone, director of the Student Financial Aid Office, told the Daily Lobo that the model is “still currently under discussion.” “(We) do not know how much we will receive and when,” Malone said. “Though the legislation is approved, we are awaiting further guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, which includes a timeline on availability of funds and any further guidance on rules for selection and distribution.” In a press release from the De-
Inside this Lobo
partment of Education, former Secretary Betsy DeVos — who has since resigned following the proTrump insurrection at the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. two weeks ago — confirmed that the bill “does provide for additional financial grants to students impacted by the pandemic.” The department has since provided scant updates or guidance regarding the allocation and distribution of the nearly $23 billion in federal funds. The Office of Postsecondary Education, a division of the Department of Education that handles the HEERF, did not respond to specific questions regarding allocation but instead responded with a link to their website. The website, how-
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Stimulus page 3
Liam DeBonis / Daily Lobo / @LiamDeBonis
Members of the New Mexico National Guard and State Police officers block off roads leading to the capitol building on Jan. 16, 2021.
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PUKITE: ‘Wishful recycling’ leads to trash taking long, expensive route to the landfill (pg. 2)
KNUDSEN: State money for child care available to graduate students (pg. 6)
DEBONIS: ‘The Office:’ An homage to the ordinary (pg. 4)
GUTIERREZ: ‘Death to 2020:’ Retelling a brutal year with bad comedy (pg. 7)