Statement on Nov. 12 Special Campus Memo

Press Release

GRINNELL, IOWA — On Monday, Grinnell College administration released yet another Special Campus Memo responding to UGSDW’s continued fight for worker’s rights. The memo, rife with tired talking points and scare tactics, dictated that the College will respect the results of the Nov. 27 election, but will also exercise its legal right to appeal the NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) regional office’s decision.

Grinnell College is grasping at straws. The arguments presented in its Special Campus Memo have already been rejected by the NLRB, and the memo is littered with factual inaccuracies.

UGSDW can and will strike to prevent the college from appealing our case to the Trump NLRB and jeopardizing the rights of hundreds of thousands of other undergraduate workers around the country. We are committed to ensuring equity and democracy at the picket line, and we will do everything we can to help student workers in need.

UGSDW rejects the unsubstantiated threats presented in the memo and have filed a ULP (Unfair Labor Practice) in response to the College’s baseless threat to take away student jobs. This brings the College under two separate federal investigations into labor law violations. Unfounded threats and scare tactics are not only distasteful but also illegal under NLRB rules.

The erosion of civil discourse under the Kington administration is a troubling trend. They claim that “threats have no place in [this] community,” yet they continue to threaten students’ financial aid and job security. They say that they are “committed to open inquiry and civil discourse,” yet they recently directed faculty and staff to not engage in conversations about the union, asked that faculty and staff not follow UGSDW on social media platforms, and continuously refuse to meet with UGSDW leadership to discuss a potential compromise.

UGSDW remains willing to open a dialogue and discuss compromise with the College. Given the aforementioned trends and the reprehensible content of the Special Campus Memo, this seems unlikely. Regardless, we look forward to students demonstrating their strength in numbers in our Nov. 27 election.