The United Academics of Ohio University, or UAOU, hosted an event and discussion of the current state of unionization on College Green on Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. to demonstrate to OU leadership that faculty are ready to vote for unionization.
Over 100 faculty members gathered, wearing UAOU buttons and waving red flags. The OU Samba Club played at the event and was heard around campus as attendees cheered in solidarity. A UAOU banner was available for faculty members to sign, signifying their support for the cause.
According to a previous Post report, UAOU sent a letter to President Lori Stewart Gonzalez on March 5 stating that a majority of full-time employees had approved UAOU as their exclusive bargaining representative. The letter urged the university to remain neutral until an election could be held and requested a reply by March 8.
Initially expecting a response from university leadership on March 26 regarding the request for a unionization vote, UAOU was informed of OU’s request for a 14-day extension, extending the deadline to April 9.
Despite the previously granted extension, the university pursued an additional 30-day extension, pushing the deadline to May 9, a day after grades are due for the semester, postponing their response by over two months.
Dan Pittman, a university spokesperson, stated that university leadership is carefully reviewing UAOU’s notice regarding their intention to unionize.
Matt deTar, an assistant professor of communication studies, alleged that the university had hired lawyers from BakerHostetler in Columbus and has likely spent considerable university resources opposing faculty unionization. In an interview with The Post, deTar said the lawyer was Daniel J. Guttman, a lawyer with a history of working against unions.
“The process is not proceeding neutrally,” deTar said. “The university is actively trying to prevent or undermine the success of this election on unionization.”
Janet Duerr, an associate professor of biology, expressed her passion for OU and its collaborative faculty and staff but felt a loss of focus on education.
“For me, this is about letting everybody participate in this wonderful Ohio University project,” Duerr said. “We are trying to help our students, but we need to support each other.”
Four trade unionists from São José dos Campos, Brazil, affiliated with the Brazilian trade union federation CSP-Conlutas, attended the meeting. CSP-Conlutas, which translates to “Organizations that struggle,” has 2 million trade union members.
CSP-Conlutas has engaged in various activities nationwide, including workers' conferences and collaborations with the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, or UAW.
Workers’ Voice, a socialist organization founded with Socialist Resurgence, extended an invitation to today’s event to CSP-Conlutas to express their support for UAOU’s faculty unionization initiative.
One of the points of Workers’ Voice’s Ten-Point Program is the defense of unions and workers' right to organize.
Luiz Carlos Prates, an executive board member of CSP-Conlutas, spoke to the attendees in Portuguese with Jonathan Angel, a member of Workers' Voice, translating.
“We organize unions in order to recognize our own power,” Angel translated from Prates. “It is our belief and our ability to build that power, which is what lets us determine the course of our lives and not for them to be determined as they are today by others who just give us orders and don't pay attention to the actual conditions that we are dealing with.”
Cory Crawford, an associate professor of classics, emphasized that unionization allows faculty voices not only to be heard but to be counted.
“Protecting the academic mission protects the students,” Crawford said. “It protects the investments made by the families and the taxpayers of Ohio. It protects our better future.”
UAOU organizers painted the cement wall behind Bentley Hall on Tuesday with messages such as "Stop the Delays!" and "Faculty Demand a Union Vote Now!"
Cassidy Brauner Jarrahi, an assistant professor of instruction in the College of Fine Arts, said the university’s delays are strategic. UAOU hopes to communicate its readiness to vote to the university.
The meeting concluded with over 100 faculty members marching from College Green, looping around the front of Alden Library, chanting, “No more delays, let us vote!” with the OU Samba Club playing along.
