The Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC) is a labor union representing graduate teaching and research assistants at New York University (NYU).
122-672: GSOC is affiliated with the Technical, Office, and Professional Union, United Auto Workers Local 2110, an amalgamated union that also represents employees at the Village Voice newspaper, the American Civil Liberties Union , the Museum of Modern Art , and several other locations. GSOC is one of several labor organizations of graduate student teachers and researchers that formed at private universities in
244-403: A Jesuit high school, in 1959. He has written and spoken much about his time at Brooklyn Prep and Charlie Winans, who he has referred to as his "great teacher." Sexton holds a BA . in history (1963), an MA in comparative religion (1965), and a PhD in history of American religion (1978) from Fordham University , as well as a JD (1979) magna cum laude from Harvard Law School , where he
366-619: A November 2008 New York Times editorial, Andrew Ross Sorkin claimed that the average UAW worker was paid $ 70 per hour, including health and pension costs, while Toyota workers in the US receive $ 10 to $ 20 less. The UAW asserts that most of this labor cost disparity comes from legacy pension and healthcare benefits to retired members, of which the Japanese automakers have none. The Big Three already sold each of their cars for about $ 2,500 less than equivalent cars from Japanese companies, analysts at
488-517: A bargain if it was to be a successful bargaining agency with a corporation, which meant that wildcat strikes and disruptive behavior by union members had to be stopped by the union itself. According to one writer, many UAW members were extreme individualists who did not like being bossed around by company foremen or by union agents. Leaders of the UAW realized that they had to control the shop floor, as Reuther explained in 1939: "We must demonstrate that we are
610-472: A benefit not calculated by the UAW's many critics. The UAW has claimed that the primary cause of the automotive sector's weakness was substantially more expensive fuel costs linked to the 2003-2008 oil crisis which caused customers to turn away from large sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks , the main market of the American Big Three. In 2008, the situation became critical because
732-471: A blue ribbon panel assembled by the American Council on Education that issued a report on the competitiveness of U.S. universities and the global higher education environment. In 2002, Sexton's transition teams identified the need for improved and better coordinated planning. In June 2008, NYU published Framework 2031 , which reviewed and addressed the key issues, concerns, and opportunities
854-621: A case involving Brown University , the National Labor Relations Board reversed its 2000 ruling involving NYU and determined that graduate students are not workers. In the spring and summer of 2005, there were discussions between NYU and the UAW to try to come to terms on a new contract. Ultimately, this proved unsuccessful, and NYU decided not to negotiate a second contract with the Graduate Student Organizing Committee , sparking
976-416: A case involving graduate assistants at Brown University . The Republican -controlled board stated in their decision that "there is a significant risk, even a strong likelihood, that the collective-bargaining process will be detrimental to the educational process." The dissenting opinion stated that "Today's decision is woefully out of touch with contemporary academic reality", and further that "It disregards
1098-477: A disciplined, responsible organization; we not only have power, but that we have power under control.". World War II dramatically changed the nature of the UAW's organizing. The UAW's executive board voted to make a "no strike" pledge to ensure that the war effort would not be hindered by strikes. A vehement minority opposed the decision, but the pledge was later reaffirmed by the membership. As war production ramped up and auto factories converted to tank building,
1220-636: A full faculty schedule (at least four courses) and to write books and articles. Since stepping down as NYU’s president, Sexton has continued to teach a full schedule and write both for the academic and popular press. He also has worked to expand access to education for underrepresented groups and refugees — the most notable of these efforts is the Catalyst Foundation for Universal Education, created with former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to advance opportunities for refugees worldwide. Sexton graduated from Brooklyn Preparatory School ,
1342-605: A full faculty schedule — at least four courses — every year since 1981 without sabbatical. He teaches both law students and undergraduates across NYU's Global Network in New York and Abu Dhabi and has taught classes in Shanghai. A book based on one of the courses, Baseball as a Road to God , was published in 2013 He also taught a year-long course on the American Constitution, religion, and government for
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#17327909434281464-466: A joint agreement to recognize a graduate student union; in March 2015, the two sides reached agreement on a contract. In the preceding years, there was controversy at NYU over the issue of collective bargaining and union representation for TAs as well as research assistants (RAs). In 2001, NYU signed the first and only collective bargaining agreement for TAs at a private university. In July 2004, in
1586-516: A joint decision that GSOC would withdraw its petition to the NLRB. In November of that year, the university administration announced that if a majority of the graduate assistant population would vote in favor of GSOC-UAW again representing them in collective bargaining with the university, GSOC-UAW would be recognized in such a role. In December 2013, graduate assistants at NYU voted 620 to 10 in favor of collective bargaining with NYU allied with GSOC-UAW. As
1708-462: A majority of the workers signing cards asking for UAW representation, in February 2014 workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga , Tennessee plant narrowly voted down the union 712 to 626. However, the UAW organized a minority union Local 42, which was voluntary and does not collect dues. After the close vote against the UAW, Volkswagen announced a new policy allowing groups representing at least 15% of
1830-508: A membership convention that a public majority of its members continued to support the union and had signed a petition which called on the University Leadership Team to bargain a second contract. After the convention, 43 GSOC members and 14 supporters engaged in an act of civil disobedience and were arrested for blocking traffic. GSOC members resumed their teaching duties on September 5, 2006 (the first day of classes for
1952-538: A motion of no confidence 20-12 (with 9 abstentions). Some members of the faculty claimed that the administration of New York University, in seeking approvals for the NYU 2031 plan, would create a development project that would remove large tracts of open space from Greenwich Village and create a construction zone on and off for years to come. Out of 170 academic departments in the University, 37 passed resolutions against
2074-649: A pioneer in depression screening among college students. While Dean of the NYU School of Law, Sexton served as president of the Association of American Law Schools . In 2009, Sexton served as chair of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities, vice-chair and chair-designate of the American Council on Education , and chair of the New York Academy of Sciences . He is also a member of
2196-616: A research university with a liberal arts and science college in China's financial capital, the first American university with independent legal status approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education, and the result of a partnership between NYU and Shanghai. Also in March 2011, NAFSA: Association of International Educators recognized NYU with its Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization, and Fast Company (magazine) named NYU #1 on its list of education innovators, citing
2318-511: A result of this vote, GSOC-UAW again represents graduate assistants at NYU, and continues to bargain with the administration. The GSOC strike has caused various disruptions across campus, including canceled classes, classes moved to off-campus locations [3] , class boycotts, and protests inside Bobst Library [4] . Sympathy for the GSOC strike also kept some speakers and recruiters from participating in campus events. [5] Several actions taken by
2440-463: A stated goal of raising $ 2.5 billion, ultimately raised over $ 3 billion. In 2009, NYU's fundraising continued to exceed $ 1 million per day in spite of the economic crisis. In October 2007, NYU announced the creation of New York University Abu Dhabi , the first such campus to be operated abroad by a major research university. The school, which the university is referring to as the "world's honors college," recruits top students and faculty from around
2562-521: A strike among graduate assistants in late 2005 and criticism of Sexton. GSOC called off the strike in 2006. In 2009, NYU's Graduate School of Arts & Science – home to most of NYU's fully funded graduate students — modified its financial aid packages for graduate students to eliminate assistantship duties; thereafter, graduate students who wished to teach could do so (with additional compensation beyond their graduate study stipends) as adjunct faculty, who are unionized at NYU. Sexton decided to retire as
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#17327909434282684-681: A successful strike at the Big Three in 2023, the union organized its first foreign plant ( VW ) in 2024. UAW members in the 21st century work in industries including autos and auto parts, health care, casino gambling, and higher education. The union is headquartered in Detroit , Michigan . As of February 24, 2022, the UAW has more than 391,000 active members and more than 580,000 retired members in over 600 local unions and holds 1,150 contracts with some 1,600 employers. It holds assets amounting to just over $ 1 billion. For most of its history,
2806-479: A temporary "federal labor union" (FLU), whose members would then be divided up amongst the AFL's various craft unions. He sent William Collins to Detroit to organize automobile workers. Collins' efforts were hampered by an insufficiently militant program, a lack of organizing funds, fear of retaliation among the workers, distrust from Black and foreign workers, and strong opposition from the automobile companies. By 1935
2928-446: A time when other auto companies would not. Furthermore, many feared that Black workers were being asked to risk their jobs but would be "pushed aside and ignored" once the union had secured their votes. It took four years of organizing efforts for the UAW to win the right to represent Ford employees. On May 21, 1941, following a strike at Ford's Rouge plant , a decisive majority of employees, including most Black employees, voted to join
3050-521: A wide range of policy issues or reforms to AFL–CIO governance. On July 24, 1968, just days after the UAW disaffiliation, Teamsters General President Frank Fitzsimmons and Reuther formed the Alliance for Labor Action as a new national trade union center to organize unorganized workers and pursue leftist political and social projects. Meany denounced the ALA as a dual union , although Reuther argued it
3172-558: Is a fellow of the Foreign Policy Association . In 2008-09, Sexton co-chaired (with Rick Trainor , the principal of King's College London ) the US-UK Study Group on Higher Education in a Global Environment, a working group of university presidents constituted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown . In March 2010, Sexton was named Chair of the American Council on Education . In 2011, Sexton led
3294-588: Is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico ) and southern Ontario , Canada. It was founded as part of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the 1930s and grew rapidly from 1936 to the 1950s. The union played a major role in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party under the leadership of Walter Reuther (president 1946–1970). It
3416-434: Is based on an NYU undergraduate course that Sexton teaches of the same name, which uses baseball as a vehicle to examine the formative material of religion. His most recent book is Standing For Reason: The University in a Dogmatic Age , which former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called "an incisive analysis of the collapse of political discourse" provided by "one of the leading educators of our time." This work
3538-525: The U.S. News & World Report rankings of law schools; an emphasis on faculty recruitment reduced the student faculty ratio from 19:1 to 12:1; the Hauser Global Law School Program was established; the school became among the most selective in the U.S. (average LSAT scores rose from the 94th to the 97th percentile; average GPAs rose from 3.54 to 3.66); and in 1998 the school completed the then-largest fundraising campaign in
3660-637: The American Federation of Labor (AFL) had only focused on organizing skilled workers practicing specific trades, an approach known as craft unionism . Most automobile workers were not skilled, so they were largely unorganized. This changed following the passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933. AFL president William Green decided to begin an organizing drive among unskilled and semi-skilled workers. Green planned to recruit workers at each factory into
3782-733: The Blackboard course management systems for courses with teaching assistants in order to monitor the impact of the strike. When the professors teaching these classes discovered this, a strong reaction among faculty against this perceived violation of academic freedom forced a reversal of the move. In November 2005, NYU announced that graduate assistants who remained on strike past the fall 2005 semester would be locked out of working and receiving their stipends for one or two semesters. The university promised to fully fund tuition and healthcare, regardless of an individual GA's decision on whether to strike. In January 2006, Sexton followed through with
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3904-803: The COVID-19 pandemic . Though primarily known for autoworkers, academic staff comprised one quarter of UAW membership in 2022, and the 2022 University of California academic workers' strike achieved higher pay for that UAW affiliate. A corruption probe by the Justice Department against UAW and 3 Fiat Chrysler executives was conducted during 2020 regarding several charges such as racketeering , embezzlement , and tax evasion . It resulted in convictions of 12 union officials and 3 Fiat Chrysler executives, including two former Union Presidents, UAW paying back over $ 15 million in improper chargebacks to worker training centers, payment of $ 1.5 million to
4026-551: The Great Recession significantly impaired the ability of consumers to purchase automobiles. The Big Three also based their respective market strategies on fuel-inefficient SUVs, and suffered from lower quality perception (vis-a-vis automobiles manufactured by Japanese or European car makers). Accordingly, the Big Three directed vehicle development focused on light trucks (which had better profit margins) in order to offset
4148-891: The New York Daily News , the New York Post , Crain's New York Business , and the New York Observer , and the approval of the New York City Planning Commission , the New York City Council overwhelmingly approved, by a margin of 44-1, the NYU 2031 proposals in July 2012. In November 2013, NYU and the United Auto Workers (which represented graduate teaching assistants , or TAs) announced
4270-680: The New York Academy of Sciences , and the University of the People President's Council. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received many awards and honors for his work in education, including the American Council on Education's Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence and 24 honorary doctoral degrees. In July 2008, he was named as Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur ,
4392-540: The Times Higher Education , the Financial Times , and Bloomberg BusinessWeek . In 2014, NYU received a record number of prospective applicants for freshman admission for the seventh straight year in a row. According to a press release from NYU, during Sexton's presidency applications for freshman admission more than doubled, from 29,000 to over 60,000. In 2004, Sexton announced a program —
4514-673: The United States Courts of Appeals and both the Supreme Court of the United States and state supreme courts. Sexton also wrote How Free Are We?: What the Constitution Says We Can and Cannot Do (with Nat Brandt). Sexton authored Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game with Thomas Oliphant and Peter J. Schwartz, a New York Times bestselling non-fiction book published in 2013. The book
4636-400: The sitdown strike , a tactic where workers "sit down" at their work stations to occupy a factory. Sitdown strikes enabled small numbers of workers to interrupt the assembly line and stop production across an entire plant. Likewise, it projected power outwards from the factory across the entire supply chain: "just as a militant minority could stop production in an entire plant, so if the plant
4758-463: The 1990s. It is the first graduate employee union at a private U.S. university to have achieved collective bargaining unit recognition and negotiated a contract. (The contract expired in 2005 and the collective bargaining relationship with the university is scuttled.) When GSOC began to organize in the late 1990s, members believed that shifts in the academic labor market, including greater reliance on graduate student teaching and research, made necessary
4880-472: The 2006–2007 academic year), officially ending their six-month-long strike without receiving a second contract or winning back administrative recognition of the union's collective bargaining rights. The administration had recognized these rights prior to the August 31, 2005 contract expiration. [1] GSOC, through the UAW, funded a failed lawsuit against the developer of a future NYU dorm. [2] The plaintiffs in
5002-455: The AFL caved to pressure and called for a convention. The UAW's founding convention began on August 26, 1935 in Detroit. The total membership of its constituent unions was 25,769. The AFL attempted to keep control of the union by pushing through a charter that denied the rank-and-file the right to elect their own officers. Militant local unions quickly managed to overturn that situation, and
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5124-666: The Arts ' TischAsia in Singapore. The Stern School of Business implemented global components in its undergraduate curriculum. The NYU School of Law established an LLM joint degree program with the National University of Singapore . Sexton discussed the idea of the Global Network University at length in late 2009 with Richard Heffner on The Open Mind (TV series) . "The New Global University"
5246-715: The Ford Service Department to spy on and intimidate workers. At the Battle of the Overpass , Ford Service Department personnel beat union organizers in front of news photographers. Despite Ford's attempts to destroy them, photographs of the incident reached the press and helped turn public opinion against the company. However, Ford continued to refuse to sign a contract. The UAW's cause was hindered by its weakness with Black workers. Older Black workers felt loyalty to Henry Ford because he had hired and paid them well at
5368-854: The Gallatin School, the Steinhardt School, and the Tisch School also passed votes of no confidence. However, the NYU Board of Trustees reaffirmed their support for Sexton; moreover, the faculty of the NYU School of Law passed a faculty vote of confidence in Sexton by 59-2 (with 3 abstentions), the Faculty Council at the School of Medicine passed a resolution of support for Sexton 28-9, and the School of Social Work voted down
5490-505: The Global Network University, NYU's Abu Dhabi campus, and the state of public discourse, among other topics. As president of NYU, Sexton discussed the nature of the university recurringly on The Open Mind (TV series) . He also appeared as a guest on The Colbert Report on December 6, 2006; during his time in the studio, he gave Stephen Colbert a hug, which he was known for giving affectionately on campus. He appeared again on Colbert on March 7, 2013 to promote his book Baseball as
5612-614: The IRS to settle tax issues, commitment to independent oversight for six years, and a referendum that reformed the election mode for leadership. The "One Member One Vote" referendum vote in 2022 determined that UAW members could directly elect the members of the UAW International Executive Board (IEB), the highest ruling body of the UAW. Shawn Fain was elected president in March 2023. A strike against all big three automakers began on September 15, 2023, for
5734-576: The International Motor Vehicle Program said. According to the 2007 GM Annual Report, typical autoworkers earned a base wage of approximately $ 28 per hour. Following the 2007 National Agreement, the base starting wage was lowered to about $ 15 per hour. A second-tier wage of $ 14.50 an hour, which applies only to newly hired workers, is lower than the average wage in non-union auto companies in the Deep South . One of
5856-618: The Midwestern United States and Canada, had been impacted economically from losses in jobs and income. This peaked with the near-bankruptcy of Chrysler in 1979. In 1985 the union's Canadian division disaffiliated from the UAW over a dispute regarding negotiation tactics and formed the Canadian Auto Workers as an independent union. Specifically the Canadian division claimed they were being used to pressure
5978-551: The NYU 2031 plan, including a majority of the departments in the Faculty of Arts and Science; in response, Sexton indicated in a University Senate meeting in spring 2012 that he would establish a presidential working group, composed largely of faculty selected by the Faculty Senators Council and the schools and chaired by the head of the Faculty Senators Council, to review space and development issues. That group,
6100-542: The Partners Plan — to expand tenured and tenure-track faculty in the arts and sciences by 20%, the largest such expansion in the university's history. By fall 2009, faculty hires under the Partners Plan included totaled 245, including 124 hires to replace departing faculty and 121 new hires to expand the arts and science faculty. In 2008, NYU successfully finished what was then the largest completed fundraising campaign in higher education. The Campaign for NYU , with
6222-410: The Sexton administration during the strike have sparked strong opposition among many faculty, students, and observers, including some who are not supportive of GSOC. Others, including some administrators, parents, undergraduates, have said that GSOC's strike is an unnecessary disruption to the academic process. Soon after the strike began, several NYU administrators discreetly signed on as instructors to
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#17327909434286344-703: The Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Scholars Program (for outstanding undergraduate students in United Arab Emirates' institutions of higher learning who are selected for special academic and leadership opportunities). During his presidency, NYU was named the "number one dream school" four times by The Princeton Review . In addition, NYU rose across college rankings, including in US News & World Report ,
6466-416: The UAW as their representative in a sitdown strike. By mid-1937 the new union claimed 150,000 members and was spreading through the auto and parts manufacturing towns of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The Ford Motor Company was the last of the "Big Three" automakers to recognize the UAW. Henry Ford and his security manager, Harry Bennett , used brute force to keep the union out of Ford. They set up
6588-492: The UAW organized new locals in these factories and airplane manufacturers across the country and hit a peak membership of over a million members in 1944. That same year, Lillian Hatcher was appointed the first Black female international representative of the UAW. The UAW struck GM for 113 days, beginning in November 1945, demanding a greater voice in management. GM would pay higher wages but refused to consider power sharing;
6710-508: The UAW used the rhetoric of civic or liberal nationalism to fight for the rights of Black workers and other workers of color between the 1930s and 1970s. At the same time, it used this rhetoric to simultaneously rebuff the demands and limit the organizing efforts of Black workers seeking to overcome institutional racial hierarchies in the workplace, housing, and the UAW. The UAW leadership denounced these demands and efforts as antidemocratic and anti-American. Three examples, Williams argues, show how
6832-667: The UAW's use of working class nationalism functioned as a counter subversive tradition within American liberalism: the UAW campaign at the Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan , in the late 1930s, the 1942 conflict in Detroit over the black occupancy of the Sojourner Truth housing project, and the responses of the UAW under the conservative leadership of Reuther to the demands of Black workers for representation in UAW leadership between
6954-452: The UAW, the first Earth Day would have likely flopped!" With the 1973 oil embargo , rising fuel prices caused the U.S. auto makers to lose market share to foreign manufacturers who placed more emphasis on fuel efficiency. This started years of layoffs and wage reductions, and the UAW found itself in the position of giving up many of the benefits it had won for workers over the decades. By the early 1980s, auto producing states, especially in
7076-422: The UAW. The UAW extracted a better deal from Ford than from other automakers, including pay increases, a closed shop , and rehiring of pro-union workers. The agreement also included a non-discrimination clause drafted by Shelton Tappes , a Black foundryman who had served on the UAW negotiating team. Communists provided many of the organizers and led some key union locals, especially Local 600 which represented
7198-552: The United States Warren E. Burger in 1980-81. Sexton joined the faculty of the New York University School of Law in 1981, teaching first year law students Civil Procedure (the rules of courts); he was given tenure in 1983. In 1988, Sexton was named dean of the New York University School of Law , succeeding Norman Redlich . During his deanship, NYU's School of Law rose to number four in
7320-420: The United States. In addition, he co-wrote with Samuel Estreicher the book Redefining the Supreme Court's Role: A Theory of Managing the Federal Judicial Process as well as the 141-page NYU Law Review article A Managerial Theory of the Supreme Court's Responsibilities: An Empirical Study in 1984. These works were the centerpiece of a national debate over the creation of a new intermediate court to fit between
7442-514: The University Space Priorities Working Group, began its work in fall 2012; it completed its work in March 2014. In its final report, the group found that NYU did indeed have a pressing need for additional academic space, determined that the university's plans for a new facility were within it financial means, and recommended that the university construct on the site of the Coles Sports and Recreation Center. After receiving editorial support by New York City newspapers, including The New York Times ,
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#17327909434287564-409: The Volkswagen (VW) Chattanooga, Tennessee plant voted to join the UAW, the union's first victory in the South outside Detroit's Big Three. District 65, a former affiliate of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union that included as a predecessor the United Office and Professional Workers of America , merged into the UAW in 1989. In 2008, the 6,500 postdoctoral scholars (postdocs) at
7686-413: The administration had only given it 48 hours to respond to its “ultimatum” and that the GSOC leadership, due to union policy, could not agree to contract terms without the consent of their members. After several months without a contract, GSOC held a strike vote in which, according to GSOC representatives, 85 percent of those voting approved a strike. The strike began on November 9, 2005, and lasted through
7808-411: The approval of the New York City Planning Commission , the New York City Council approved the NYU 2031 proposals in July 2012 by a vote of 44-1. A faculty organization called "Faculty Against the Sexton Plan" was formed to fight the administration's plans, which had prompted contentious public meetings within the Greenwich Village community prior to the near-unanimous approval by the City. That group
7930-404: The auto industry rebound in the 21st century and blamed for seeking generous benefit packages in the past which in part led to the automotive industry crisis of 2008–10 . UAW workers receiving generous benefit packages when compared with those working at non-union Japanese auto assembly plants in the U.S., had been cited as a primary reason for the cost differential before the 2009 restructuring. In
8052-448: The benefits negotiated by the United Auto Workers was the former jobs bank program, under which laid-off members once received 95 percent of their take-home pay and benefits. More than 12,000 UAW members were paid this benefit in 2005. In December 2008, the UAW agreed to suspend the program as a concession to help U.S. automakers during the auto industry crisis. UAW leadership granted concessions to its unions in order to win labor peace,
8174-501: The best compensated in the country in addition to gaining unprecedented rights and protections. Died in office John Sexton John Edward Sexton (born September 29, 1942) is an American legal scholar. He is the Benjamin F. Butler Professor of Law at New York University where he teaches at the law school and NYU's undergraduate colleges. Sexton served as the fifteenth president of NYU, from 2002 to 2015. During his time as president, NYU's stature rose dramatically into
8296-410: The board of the Association of American Universities , a member of the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities , and a member of the board of the Institute of International Education . Sexton is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and on the Advisory Board of the Genesis Prize Foundation . He
8418-416: The classes' 75th percentile, the SAT critical reading score was 770 (behind only four US universities) and the math score was 780 (ranking it sixth); the median SAT score (on the 1600 scale) was 1470). The recruitment of the class was reported on in an article in The New York Times on June 21, 2010. Newsweek magazine carried a Q+A with Sexton about the Abu Dhabi campus in August 2008. Sexton discussed
8540-504: The companies for extra benefits, which went mostly to the American members. The UAW saw a loss of membership after the 1970s. Membership topped 1.5 million in 1979, falling to 540,000 in 2006. With the late-2000s recession and automotive industry crisis of 2008–10 , GM and Chrysler filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. Membership fell to 390,000 active members in 2010, with more than 600,000 retired members covered by pension and medical care plans. UAW has been credited for aiding in
8662-401: The considerably higher labor costs, falling considerably behind in the sedan market segments to Japanese and European automakers. The UAW has tried to expand membership by organizing the employees outside of the Big Three. In 2010, Bob King hired Richard Bensinger to organize Japanese, Korean, and German transplant factories in the United States. In a representational election following
8784-496: The consumer with each contract, with limited success. An agreement on profit sharing with American Motors led nowhere, because profits were small at this minor player. The UAW expanded its scope to include workers in other major industries such as the aerospace and agricultural-implement industries. The UAW disaffiliated from the AFL–CIO on July 1, 1968, after Reuther and AFL–CIO President George Meany could not come to agreement on
8906-590: The country according to U.S. News & World Report . In 2000, Kent D. Syverud , then-dean of the Vanderbilt University Law School , called John Sexton the most effective dean of his generation. Sexton has served as chair of several major higher education organizations, including the Association of American Law Schools , the American Council on Education , the Independent Colleges and Universities of New York State,
9028-608: The debate team at St. Brendan's High School, a Catholic girls' school in Brooklyn, New York, leading the team to five national championships and numerous invitational titles. He was named to the National Forensic League Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2005, the Barkley Forum at Emory University presented him with a Golden Anniversary Coaching Award recognizing him as a top high school debate coach of
9150-414: The efforts of the police and National Guard to retake them. On February 11, 1937, General Motors agreed to bargain with the UAW, and eventually recognized the UAW as a bargaining agent under the newly adopted National Labor Relations Act . This recognition marked a turning point in the growth of the UAW and organized labor unions more generally. The next month, auto workers at Chrysler won recognition of
9272-667: The emergence of NYU as a Global Network University in an interview on National Public Radio 's Weekend Edition Sunday with David Greene in August 2009, as well as in two articles in Abu Dhabi's English-language newspaper The National (Abu Dhabi) . During Sexton's presidency, the percentage of NYU students studying abroad approximately doubled to over 40 percent, and the Institute of International Education recognized NYU as sending more students abroad than any other U.S. university. The number of study abroad sites doubled, including
9394-575: The entire spring semester. It is thought to have been the longest strike by academic workers at a college or university in U.S. history. In response to the Brown decision, NYU's decision not to negotiate, the strike, and the administration's response, several GSOC-supportive groups have formed at NYU to call upon president John Sexton to end the strike by negotiating a new contract. More than 200 faculty members – including prominent physicist Alan Sokal , who has written several essays voicing his opinion on
9516-409: The first graduate assistant union contract at an American private university. (Many public universities already had union contracts under state labor laws.) The three-year contract increased stipends (dramatically for some), instituted a health care plan, and created a third-party arbitration procedure for economic disputes. In 2004, a newly constituted NLRB voted 3–2 to reverse its 2000 NYU decision in
9638-680: The first sites in Asia and Africa. In fall 2009, under Sexton, NYU opened a site in Tel Aviv. In addition to its portal campus in Abu Dhabi , NYU operated ten global sites on five continents. In November 2014, the IIE reported that NYU, for the first time, hosted more international students than any other U.S. university. Beyond its global sites, individual NYU schools and programs operate some two dozen international programs, including NYU's Tisch School of
9760-681: The first time in UAW history. After nearly a month and a half of strikes, UAW was able to reach an agreement with all three carmakers after securing record concessions from them. After the success of the strike, in November 2023, the UAW announced that it was launching a simultaneous campaign to unionize 150,000 workers at other automakers with plants in the United States: BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Lucid, Mazda, Mercedes, Nissan, Rivian, Subaru, Tesla , Toyota, Volkswagen , and Volvo. The UAW represented 145,000 at GM, Ford & Stellantis. In April 2024, after two failed attempts, 73% of workers at
9882-591: The first. On August 5, 2005, NYU announced its decision not to negotiate with GSOC. Its primary grounds for this decision were the claim that GSOC had filed several grievances on non-academic matters regarding teaching assignments and that it had offered to negotiate with GSOC as long as the union would agree, before the start of negotiations, to surrender the previous contract's third-party arbitration and agency shop provisions and become an "open shop" union, common in many southern states but largely without precedent in New York. However, on an official website devoted to
10004-516: The formation of collective bargaining units. Members also sought a collective voice in their pay and working conditions. In 2000, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) unanimously ruled that graduate assistants were statutory “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act . As well, it stipulated that NYU was obliged to enter into collective bargaining negotiations with GSOC after a majority of graduate employees at
10126-431: The grievances to which the administration referred were economic disputes in which some graduate students were given the same jobs as in previous semesters, but reclassified as lower-paid adjunct professors not covered by the union contract. The union argued that this was not only damaging to graduate employees' wages and benefits, but a deliberate tactic to weaken the union by depriving it of members. The union also said that
10248-507: The growth to be spread over three locations outside Greenwich Village — along Manhattan's East Side health corridor, in Downtown Brooklyn , and on Governors Island — and half in or near its core. In March 2011, NYU announced updates to its plans to expand over the coming two decades, and in particular its proposal for the two "superblocks" near its campus core. Following editorial support by several New York City newspapers and
10370-554: The history of legal education ($ 185 million). After he stepped down as dean to become president of NYU in 2002, the law school named a professorship after him, the John E. Sexton Professor of Law, held presently by Richard B. Stewart, as well as named a lounge after him at Furman Hall, the John Sexton Student Forum. In addition, the law school as created a set of scholarships for students named in his honor. Sexton
10492-483: The labor dispute, NYU to date has only cited two "non-academic" grievances, both of which were decided in the university's favor by an independent arbitrator appointed by both sides. In response, GSOC argued that without rights to third-party contract arbitration and an agency-shop provision, the contract offer would render the union virtually powerless to represent its members, a union in name only. The union also dismissed NYU's claims of disruptive grievances, arguing that
10614-517: The largest Ford plants. The Communist faction had some key positions in the union, including the directorship of the Washington office, the research department, and the legal office. Walter Reuther at times cooperated closely with the Communists, but he and his allies formed strategically an anticommunist current within the UAW. The UAW discovered that it had to be able to uphold its side of
10736-416: The lawsuit were community members, but a large portion of the legal fees were provided by the UAW, which was not named on the lawsuit. The suit was dismissed on September 22, 2006. In 2009, GSOC issued a petition to the NLRB to reverse the Brown decision. The regional labor relations board voted in favor of GSOC-UAW, but the petition stalled at the national level. In 2013, New York University and GSOC-UAW made
10858-502: The majority of members had been recruited by militant local activists taking their own initiative at plants outside Michigan. Many of these militant local unions opposed the AFL's plan to divide their members into different craft unions. They began advocating for the immediate creation of an automobile workers' union covering the entire industry . After the Toledo local led an unauthorized but successful strike against General Motors (GM),
10980-572: The measures, revoking the stipends of 23 striking graduate students for two semesters. However, in late February 2006, 15 of the 23 punished GAs received letters stating that their fall stipends would be restored. Grievances filed by these blacklisted GAs through the university's new non-union "interim" grievance procedure in early 2006 remained unaddressed as late as December 23, 2006. United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers ( UAW ), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America ,
11102-423: The mid-1940s and the 1960s. See also League of Revolutionary Black Workers and Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement for the history of Black workers who questioned the corrupt leadership of the UAW in the 1960s and the 1970s. The UAW was the most instrumental outside financial and operational supporter of the first Earth Day in 1970. According to Denis Hayes , Earth Day's first national coordinator, "Without
11224-961: The national order of the Legion of Honor of France ; and in April 2024, Sexton received the Abu Dhabi Award, which is the highest civilian honor issued by the United Arab Emirates . From January 1, 2003 to January 1, 2007, Sexton was the Chairman of the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York ; in 2006, he served as chair of the Federal Reserve System 's Council of Chairs. Throughout his time as dean and president of NYU, Sexton continued to teach
11346-791: The old confrontational syndicalist position that shorter hours drove up wages and protected against unemployment. The UAW delivered contracts for his membership through negotiation. Reuther would pick one of the Big Three automakers ( General Motors , Ford , and Chrysler ), and if it did not offer concessions, he would strike it and let the other two absorb its sales. Besides high hourly wage rates and paid vacations, in 1950, Reuther negotiated an industry first contract with General Motors known as Reuther's Treaty of Detroit . The UAW negotiated employer-funded pensions at Chrysler, medical insurance at GM, and in 1955 supplementary unemployment benefits at Ford. Many smaller suppliers followed suit with benefits. Reuther tried to negotiate lower automobile prices for
11468-455: The opening of NYU Abu Dhabi. In April 2011, at the U.S. State Department 's US-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cited NYU's announcement about the opening of NYU Shanghai, and praised John Sexton's work on the project. On July 11, 2011, in response to the detention of law-abiding democracy advocates by the government of the United Arab Emirates and Sexton's suggestion that such detention
11590-656: The past 50 years. Still an avid proponent of interscholastic debate , he is chairman of the board of Associated Leaders of Urban Debate (ALOUD), which seeks to bring debate activities to underserved communities in America's urban areas. After graduating from Harvard Law School , he clerked for judges Harold Leventhal and David L. Bazelon of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1979-80, and he clerked for Chief Justice of
11712-490: The plain language of" Section 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act, which "defines employees so broadly that graduate students who perform services for, and under the control of, their universities are easily covered". Soon thereafter, NYU asked members of the university community for feedback regarding whether it ought to negotiate a second contract with GSOC upon the August 31, 2005 expiration of
11834-459: The ranks of the world's top universities, and it became the world's first global network university. Sexton has been called a "transformational" figure in higher education and was named by Time Magazine as one of the United States' 10 best college presidents. From 1988 to 2002, he served as dean of the NYU School of Law , during which time NYU became one of the top five law schools in
11956-551: The right-to-work legislation that passed over the objection of organized labor in December 2012. The UAW also remains a major player in the state Democratic Party. In March 2020, the Detroit United Auto Workers union announced that after discussion with the leaders of General Motors , Ford , and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles , the carmakers would partially shut down factories on a "rotating" basis to combat
12078-410: The situation – have joined a group called Faculty Democracy. Student support of GSOC has been mixed. Undergraduates supporting GSOC have formed Graduate/Undergraduate Solidarity, and law students have formed Law/Grad Solidarity. The unions of adjunct faculty members, office support staff, security personnel, and other NYU employees have variously supported GSOC. On April 27, 2006, GSOC announced at
12200-467: The struggle alienated the UAW from the AFL leadership. The UAW joined John L. Lewis 's caucus of industrial unions, the Committee for Industrial Organization, in 1936. When the AFL expelled the industrial unions in 1938, it joined the new Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The UAW's fortunes began to improve after it began organizing on an industrial basis. The union found rapid success with
12322-424: The ten campuses of the University of California , who, combined, account for 10% of the postdocs in the US, voted to affiliate with the UAW, creating the largest union for postdoctoral scholars in the country: UAW Local 5810 . The expansion of UAW to academic circles, postdoctoral researchers in particular, was significant in that the move helped secure advances in pay that made unionized academic researchers among
12444-422: The union during one of the most prosperous periods for workers in U.S. history. Immediately after the war, left-wing elements demanded "30–40", which is a 30-hour week for 40 hours pay. Reuther rejected 30–40 and decided to concentrate on total annual wages, displaying a new corporatist mentality that accepted management's argument that shorter hours conflicted with wage increases and other job benefits and abandoning
12566-472: The union finally settled with an eighteen-and-a-half-cent wage increase but little more. The UAW went along with GM in return for an ever-increasing packages of wage and benefit hikes through collective bargaining, with no help from the government. Walter Reuther won the election for president at the UAW's constitutional convention in 1946 and served until his death in an airplane accident in May 1970. Reuther led
12688-430: The university voted in favor of the union in an NLRB election . In accordance with federal labor relations law and motions made by NYU and GSOC, the bargaining unit represented by GSOC in contract negotiations did not include graduate students who were primarily funded by private fellowships, those whose funding was not contingent on the performance of any work, and some other categories. In 2002, GSOC and NYU negotiated
12810-487: The university would confront over the two-plus decades leading to its bicentennial. Increases in the size of the student body and program development that began to accelerate in the 1990s sparked resistance in the Greenwich Village neighborhood, as community members opposed NYU's expansion projects. In 2007, NYU began a space planning process with intensive community involvement to provide a roadmap for aligning
12932-641: The university's academic needs and its growth through 2031; the process included a number of open houses to provide for community input. In April 2010, Sexton announced NYU 2031: NYU in NYC , a long-term, citywide strategic framework for how and where NYU should develop space for its academic mission. The strategy envisioned the addition of as much as 6,000,000 sq ft (560,000 m ) of space over more than two decades, but recognized that all of NYU's space needs could not be accommodated within its neighborhood; therefore NYU 2031: NYU in NYC called for fully half of
13054-457: The university's president after his contract expired in 2016 after 14 years as president; he subsequently returned full-time to NYU School of Law, where he was previously dean for 14 years and a faculty member for seven years. He also continues to teach at the university's undergraduate colleges, as he did during his term as president. In the 2007-08 school year, Sexton received $ 1.3 million in executive compensation for his service as president of
13176-412: The university. His salary later increased to $ 1.5 million. Sexton was scheduled to receive a length of service bonus of $ 2.5 million in 2015 as well as $ 800,000 annually in retirement. Sexton co-edits the textbook Civil Procedure: Cases and Materials , now in its thirteenth edition (with John Cound, Jack Friedenthal, Helen Hershkoff, and Arthur R. Miller), which is widely used in law schools throughout
13298-461: The workforce to participate in meetings, with higher access tiers for groups representing 30% and 45% of employees. This prompted anti-UAW workers who opposed the first vote to form a rival union, the American Council of Employees. In December 2014 the UAW was certified as representing more than 45% of employees. The union engages in Michigan state politics. President King was a vocal opponent of
13420-442: The world, and began classes in the fall of 2010. NYU Abu Dhabi recruited an outstandingly strong first freshman class, which was notable for its selectivity (189 students were accepted out of 9,048 applicants worldwide (an acceptance rate of 2.1%), with a 79.4 percent yield), its geographic diversity (the class of 150 students will include students from 39 countries on six continents), and the academic qualifications of its students (at
13542-597: The years, Sexton has been the subject of several public profiles in prominent media venues. In September 2009, he was featured in The New York Times section Sunday Routines . In March 2010, he was interviewed by Bill Moyers on the Public Broadcasting Service show Bill Moyers Journal . In May 2010, he was the subject of a NY1 profile on One on 1 with Budd Mishkin. That July, he appeared on Charlie Rose (talk show) to discuss
13664-845: Was Supreme Court Editor of the Harvard Law Review . From 1966 to 1975, he taught religion at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York, where he was chair of the Religion Department. In 1977, he incorporated the John Sexton Test Preparation Center in the New York City area, which offered test preparation services for exams such as the GMAT and LSAT. According to a government report, it served 6,500 students and had revenue of over $ 650,000 in 1979. From 1961 to 1975, Sexton coached
13786-578: Was a key link in an integrated corporate empire, its occupation could paralyze the corporation." After winning sitdown strikes at General Motors (GM) plants in Atlanta and Kansas City, the UAW began to demand to represent General Motors workers nationwide. Their efforts culminated in the famous Flint sit-down strike , which began on December 30, 1936. By January 25, strikes and the effects of production shutdowns idled 150,000 workers at fifty General Motors plants from California to New York. Strikers repelled
13908-541: Was a topic of the British Council 's Going Global conference in March 2010, at which Sexton was invited to speak. At the events marking the announcement of Gordon Brown as NYU's first Global Distinguished Leader in Residence in December 2010, he discussed the Global Network University concept at length. On March 28, 2011, under Sexton, the University announced the creation of New York University Shanghai ,
14030-685: Was appropriate to the UAE's "security concerns," Human Rights Watch asked Sexton to publicly retract his statements on the matter. He did not respond to this request. Both Sexton's own transition reports and the Middle States Accreditation Report cited the need to enhance the experience of NYU undergraduates. Since Sexton's appointment, NYU put in place the award-winning 24/7 Wellness Exchange, specialized programming in student dorms, and novel resources to assist students. In addition, NYU's Student Health Center has been
14152-560: Was based on Sexton's "Reflections on Higher Education" published periodically over the course of his presidency of NYU. Sexton has received numerous commendations from NYU in recognition of his contributions to the university, including the 2015 Judge Edward Weinfeld Award (NYU School of Law's highest honor); the 2016 Eugene J. Keogh Award for Distinguished Public Service; and the 2019 Albert Gallatin Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Society (the university's highest honor). In addition, he
14274-1374: Was honored in 2016 as the recipient of the President’s Distinguished Leadership Award from the School of Law's Black, Latino, Asian Pacific American Law Alumni Association. In addition to his degrees from Fordham University (PhD, MA, and BA) and Harvard University (JD), Sexton holds honorary degrees from 26 institutions: Asian University for Women (2023), Brooklyn Law School (2016), Drexel University (2016), Felician University (2016), Fordham University (2005), University of Haifa (2022), Hamilton College (2011), Iona College (New York) (2011), Jewish Theological Seminary of America (2024), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (2005), King's College London (2013), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (2023), Lafayette College (2024), Miami Dade College (2014), Mount Aloysius College (2018), Northeastern University (2018), University of Rochester (2005), Saint Francis College (1996), St. John's University (New York) (2007), Saint Joseph's College (New York) (2010), Union College (2017), University of Strathclyde (2013), University of Surrey (2011), Wake Forest University (2017), University of Warwick (2011), and Yeshiva University (2011). Sexton has received numerous other awards, including: Over
14396-478: Was known for gaining high wages and pensions for automotive manufacturing workers , but it was unable to unionize auto plants built by foreign-based car makers in the South after the 1970s, and it went into a steady decline in membership; reasons for this included increased automation , decreased use of labor, mismanagement, movements of manufacturing (including reaction to NAFTA ), and increased globalization . After
14518-617: Was named the 15th president of New York University by NYU's Board of Trustees on May 8, 2001, two months after then-President L. Jay Oliva announced that he was stepping down. "I am a very fortunate man," Sexton told the New York Daily News in an article published the next day. He assumed the post of president on May 17, 2002, one day after the 2002 All-University Commencement, and his official installation occurred on September 26, 2002. In 2009, NYU's Board of Trustees asked him to stay on as president until 2016, and Sexton accepted. In addition to his duties as NYU President, Sexton has taught
14640-542: Was not. The Alliance's initial program was ambitious. Reuther's death in a plane crash on May 9, 1970, near Black Lake, Michigan , dealt a serious blow to the Alliance, and the group halted operations in July 1971 after the Auto Workers (almost bankrupt from a lengthy strike at General Motors ) was unable to continue to fund its operations. In 1948, the UAW founded the radio station WDET 101.9 FM in Detroit. It
14762-683: Was one of a number of plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the university over the plan; in October 2014, the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court ruled for NYU and the City and against the plaintiffs. On March 15, 2013, Sexton lost a vote of no confidence among NYU Faculty of Arts and Science, by a vote of 52% to 39% with 8% abstaining; with a total of 83% voter participation. Subsequently, faculty of
14884-666: Was sold to Wayne State University for $ 1 in 1952. The UAW leadership supported the programs of the New Deal Coalition , strongly supported civil rights, and strongly supported Lyndon Johnson's Great Society . The UAW became strongly anti-communist after it expelled its Communist leaders in the late 1940s following the Taft–Hartley Act , and supported the Vietnam War and opposed the antiwar Democratic candidates. According to political scientist Charles Williams,
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