Unionization will lead to a better education, MSU

Umm, students absolutely SHOULD be concerned about professors striking. It’s one thing if maintenance workers strike and light bulbs are not replaced, but it’s another when you PAY MONEY FOR AN EDUCATION and the teachers decide they don’t like their contract anymore.

But what do I know? The unionization of General Motors really worked out well…

Another bad idea coming out of a state whose citizens have this week observed up-close how unions are bad for economies and businesses. Will Big MSU join Big Steel, Big Airlines and now Big Auto in the long line of union victims ?

“Faculty without tenure, some of whom have been working here for 25 years, would be able to work harder without having to worry about losing their jobs to budget cuts. It might seem like that benefit would be small, but the relief of job security can do a lot for a person.”

Right, because professors at a public education institution funded by taxpayer dollars should have job security that is not available to most of the citizens providing said funding. That makes complete sense. /facepalm

Michigan is struggling to maintain graduates. What better way to help Michigan college students than to have them accept the risk that a professor strike may wipe out a semester for them? Even if tuition were refunded during a strike (hah!) there’s still room and board, textbook, and utilities that would liklely not be. That’s an awfully large risk to take should professors decide that they need a wage increase while the rest of the state falls apart around them.

More help for the wrong people.

Perhaps MSU is looking for a scapegoat for its budget woes down the line, so that the board of trustees can go party in Mackinaw without feeling guilty.

I love my union. Since 2002 we have gotten guaranteed pay increases, job security, professional development and better health insurance. By working together with the University they have identified what grad employees really need and want and have focused resources there. Our Union (GEU) gives us a voice in the University community that the administrators can’t ignore. I know when I leave MSU it will be a better place for students to learn than when I came. Students will undoubtedly see a positive return when their professors aren’t worried about finding another job every single semester.

“I love my union. Since 2002 we have gotten guaranteed pay increases, job security, professional development and better health insurance. By working together with the University they have identified what grad employees really need and want and have focused resources there. Our Union (GEU) gives us a voice in the University community that the administrators can’t ignore.”

I…we…our…need…want.

“I know when I leave MSU it will be a better place for students to learn than when I came.”

Funny, your list of improvements don’t seem to give the students very much unless they’re grad students – who already get free tuition and a stipend with or without a union.

I’d love your union too. With students needing to learn, you can throw a temper tantrum, walk out, and have a ready scapegoat (the University) for students not being to obtain an education – as opposed to the University setting you out on your ass and hiring someone who would happily take the base benefits you had before unionization.

You realize that part of OUR massive tuition increases the past few years have been because of YOUR union. Right?

MSU Grad students already had a very good package and threatened to go on strike if they didnt get a major cost of living raise….uh…you realize most people in Michigan are very glad to just have a job right?

Raising tuition on students who can barely afford to go to college in the first place in this state to pay 3+% raises on students who already get a lot of compensation for the courses they teach is not good policy.

This just extends that policy further. The admin dont lose, only students who have to foot the bill will feel it.

Perhaps MSU undergrads should unionize and demand things like all the other unions do. Unions used to be about social action, not just the gimme gimme.

What an excellent example of the entitlement mentality that is currently destroying our domestic automotive industry and a major part of the economy. “Guaranteed raises”: how can anyone justify that? If the university is losing money, who are they going to screw over to make sure they meet your contracted raise? Oh, the student’s that’s who. So they end up paying more for your sub-par teaching performance with which you spew out your hatred for anything capitalistic. Get a real job then you won’t have to worry about how much the university is paying you to get an advanced degree.

Really, people? It was the unions that built the middle class in this nation. It was the labor movement that has provided us with what we call and know as “the weekend” and holidays to spend with family.

This is a distribution of wealth concern. Think about – at a University with more than $1 billion, with a B, in revenue each year, a recipient of more than a $100 million each year in grants and gift, national grants like FRIB of $550 million, and a growth rate of our endowment increasing faster than most institutions in the country since 2000, it is only appropriate the faculty and staff that worked to secure a student body, reputation, and accolades on behalf of the University be provided their fair share – and they aren’t even at this point.

Maybe you have this old 1970’s image of the blue collar uneducated union member. That is not the reality today. Unions at MSU are comprised of professionals and educators. The GEU was being taken advantage of by having the instructors teach so many students for nearly nothing. What is the value of your education? Are you looking to attend a University that won’t pay sufficient wages to attract the most gifted and engaging instructors and faculty or graduate students? I don’t know about you, but I would prefer to pay a bit more and actually get an education – not simply pay the lowest cost possible to get a below market degree.

Unions provide representation. They allow all actors to have a fair shake and provide for some oversight of the actions of senior leadership. While we might be fortunate to currently have leaders at this University who have the genuine interest of the University community in mind, which is not always a guarantee. Union are necessary and this country has a lot for which to thank them.

Some of the more “selfish” things GEU has fought for recently as they persist in their quest to destroy the university:

- Earlier employment notification dates: So grad students can start planning classes well in advance, rather than throwing something together at the last minute.

- Mandatory professional development training: Yes, the union fought for this and the university didn’t want to give it. Required training for every single class that a grad student teaches, as well as for different areas of teaching at the university level.

- Health care, including mental health care and non-prohibitive options for dependent care. Greedy b*st*rds, wanting health care for themselves AND their children?? This is America!!

- Time off for bereavement and childbirth. Get back to work, lazy grad students!

- Vaccines for leading study abroad trips.

I don’t know any grad students who are getting rich off grad school; most everyone is living month to month and barely making ends meet as is.

You are a TOOOOOOOOOOL Union-Boy. Grad students make a CHOICE to stay in school. That choice does not need to include the option of striking because they had to pay for a vaccine to take a trip to Somalia. They have students who pay a lot of money for an education that depend on them. So again, you can get all those benefits by working for an actual company that makes money. It is your choice to go to grad school and by demanding more out of the institution which provides you a great education DOES make you selfish.

Well said, Proud Union Member.