On Tuesday, members of a Yale graduate student union, showing their grit and mettle, began a hunger strike outside of the university president’s home to force the university to start collective bargaining.
That profile in courage was marred by one tiny detail: if a student got hungry, he or she was permitted to leave to get something to eat. Check out the underlined sentence in the group’s pamphlet:
As Yale Daily News reported:
Earlier this month, Local 33 — a subgroup of the international labor union UNITE HERE — demanded that Yale begin labor negotiations on April 25. On April 21, 41 ballots in the Political Science and East Asian Languages and Literatures departments that were “under challenge” with the National Labor Relations Board were thrown out. The decision brought the number of departments unionized via Local 33 in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from six to eight.
Yale spokesman Tom Conroy told Yale Daily News:
The University cannot compel anyone to refrain from this activity, but strongly urges that students not put their health at risk or encourage others to do so,” Yale spokesman Tom Conroy told Yale Daily News. Conroy also called the bargaining request premature and termed the hunger strike “unwarranted by the circumstances.”
Conroy informed The Daily Caller:
Yesterday on Beinecke Plaza, without seeking the required approval to hold a demonstration there, Local 33 erected a large tent-like structure as part of what it said would be an ongoing, indefinite protest. Structures are not permitted in that space, and the individuals who were demonstrating were notified today that it is in violation of University policy, jeopardizes the safety of the demonstrators and others, and needs to be removed.”
The Daily Caller noted, “ Yale provides doctoral students stipends of at least $30,000 and covers their entire health insurance, which totals almost $375,000 per student for six years.”