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Washington University Part-Time Faculty Voting On Unionization

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Friday is the last day for part-time faculty at Washington University in St. Louis to vote on whether they want union representation.

For several weeks, part-time faculty at Washington University has had a chance to vote on whether they want the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1 to represent them. All the ballots received by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) before the Friday deadline will be counted Monday.

“The election will be conducted by mail,” detailed the stipulated election agreement, which was obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. “The mail ballots will be mailed to employees employed in the appropriate collective-bargaining unit from the office of the National Labor Relations Board, Region 14, on December 12, 2014.”

Leonard Perez, assistant to the regional director of the NLRB, told TheDCNF, “It is the adjunct professors, for the most part, participating in this election.”

“The description of people eligible to vote is all part-time non-tenured, non-tenure track and non-research track faculty who teach at least one credit bearing course,” Perez explained.

Perez said they won’t know how many eligible voters participated until the votes are counted Monday.

The provost for the college is hoping faculty members educate themselves on what the election will entails.

“This election will be to determine whether the entire group of 404 eligible voters will be represented as a collective by SEIU, Local 1,” said a message from the provost’s office.

The message continued, “It is important for you, as an individual, to determine whether or not your interests coincide with those of other part-time faculty, whether you personally will or will not benefit from being represented by the union, and whether or not your individual interests are best served by collective representation.

The provost is also urging participants to be respectful no matter the result of the election.

“We recognize that, as with any election, emotions can run high leading up to the election and afterwards, particularly for voters who are disappointed with the outcome,” they noted. “Regardless of your position on this issue, thank you for being respectful of those who have a different opinion and for your continued commitment to providing a quality education.”

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