Grinnell student-worker union calls foul as it ends expansion efforts

Students at Grinnell College have ended the expansion efforts of a union representing student workers because they are worried the rejection of their request would harm other college unions.

"If (we) would have continued, we likely would have destroyed the rights of workers nationwide," said Cory McCartan, who helped organized the Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers. He said former labor board officials and others have said the students had a slim chance at successfully petitioning the National Labor Relations Board for expansion.  "We''ll hopefully be able to withdraw our petition before the board." 

But McCartan, a senior and adviser to the union of about 600 students, said the withdrawal efforts have not come without controversy. He said he was informed by the board that administrators at the private, liberal-arts college were opposing the withdrawal and wanted to see the petition through. This move could lead to the board hearing the students out, rejecting their request for expansion and chilling unionization efforts across the county. 

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:Grinnell union falls a few votes short of holding proposed strike

The students said as much in a news release Friday, claiming that the labor relations board, which has members appointed by President Donald Trump, would not give workers a fair hearing.

"The college has maintained that its goal is to revoke our NLRB certification; this withdrawal request would do just that," the statement from the union reads. "By opposing our request, the college has made it clear that despite (Grinnell) President (Raynard) Kington’s explicit public statements to the contrary, the college’s true motivations are to strip student workers nationwide of their right to organize and set the labor movement back a decade. This is despicable."

McCartan said he has since been told that the college will not be opposing the withdrawal and that there was miscommunication with its representation. 

"The administration said they're very confused about how this happened and it's a mistake, they did not mean to oppose the withdrawal, but I don't know," he said. "How do you not know what your lawyers are doing?"

The dining workers at the college first unionized in 2016. McCartan said that union will continue, but students were, as of 5 p.m. Thursday, at the college's administrative building demanding answers about the college's recent action. 

"We continue to call on Grinnell College to negotiate with us over a framework to move forward and protect students’ rights," the statement reads. "They are under five separate federal investigations for alleged violations of labor law, including illegal statements, surveillance, and threats."

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Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Tyler Davis can be reached at tjdavis@registermedia.com or on Twitter @TDavisDMR.