BSU GoFundMe raises $16,000

by ourselves… I would push white students, faculty and staff to do more work internally before coming to me with the guilt that they have for not doing enough.”

Luke Bryson `25, a student who donated to the BSU’s mutual aid fund, acknowledged the conditions Black students were subject to in October.

“I know going to work shifts during all of that had to have been

By Taylor Nunley nunleyta@grinnell.edu

On March 9, both Grinnell College’s and the Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers’ (UGSDW) collective bargaining teams met to discuss the grievance procedure, arbitration, Just Cause, recognition and non-discrimination. The College also revisited implementing a third-party mediator in bargaining.

The session began with the College’s team voicing concerns that little progress was being made in reaching an agreed-upon contract. Frank Harty cited UGSDW’s lack of a comprehensive proposal and their insistence on including academic workers under the Just Cause provision.

UGSDW promised a comprehensive proposal by spring break, and said they would consider implementing a mediator.

UGSDW’s collective bargaining revisited the grievance procedure. Instead of the 10 days student workers have to begin the grievance procedure currently drafted in the contract, the UGSDW collective bargaining team proposed a longer period that would only concern grievances over wages.

The collective bargaining teams also discussed arbitration, a process where a worker requests an outside mediator to settle an unresolved impossible, so I’m sure people weren’t getting the amount of funds that they normally were. Supporting in that way when I could felt like the right thing to do,” he said. Bryson also told his family back home about the situation who, in response, raised a donation along with friends for the mutual aid fund. grievance. The College brought up concerns with including an arbitration provision since the UGSDW collective bargaining team said they did not want to include a no-strike clause. UGSDW said including both the arbitration provision and the right to strike would satisfy situations where one or the other was necessary.

So far, the BSU has raised over $16,000 of their $25,000 goal. They hope to reach this goal soon and by the end of the semester they will be distributing all funds, no matter the final sum collected.

“We want the right to say ‘if you don’t resolve this grievance immediately we will strike,’” added Isaiah Gutman `23, member of the UGSDW bargaining team.

The two teams discussed revisions to the Just Cause process which both largely agreed upon.

UGSDW proposed two new provisions seeking to include high school student workers in the contract and allowing for student workers to use the grievance procedure in place of filing Title IX complaints for workplace incidents. The College expressed concerns over both proposals — they cited the definition of a student worker in the contract, which requires an individual to be enrolled as an undergraduate student at Grinnell at least part-time. They also brought up concerns with the College’s bargaining team being unprepared to grieve incidents normally brought to Title IX or VII.

Bargaining will resume on Thursday, March 16.