Mizzou students are planning on suing the university over a union vote

COLUMBIA, Mo-University of Missouri graduate assistant students plan to sue the University over a union vote.

They decided to unionize three weeks ago, but MU administrators are refusing to recognize the vote.

In the letter that lawyers for the university sent denying the union, pointed out they consider the grad assistants students and not employees.

With the school year coming to a close, graduate students have agreed this one has been quite eventful. It began with the university first cancelling, then restoring their health benefits after push back from the students.

They held strikes in November, and then last month the grad student assistants voted overwhelmingly to unionize.

The letter that was sent had three legal issues that the lawyers said caused them to make their decision.

1.) “That the graduate student assistants are in fact students and not employees.”

2.) “Assuming for the sake of discussion that the graduate teaching assistants are employees, the University would require that any Union representation election be conducted under a procedure established by the University.”

3.) “The university prefers to maintain a direct relationship with the graduate students.”

The co-chair of the Coalition of Graduate Workers, Eric Scott says the third point is absolutely absurd, “The union is made up of graduate student employees, I’m a graduate system employee.”

Scott is positive that the lawsuit will be successful and will help future grad assistants.

The exact date for the lawsuit to be filed is unknown but it will be within the next two weeks.

The university sent a statement saying that they have heard their student’s concerns and will increase their minimum payrolls, keep the health insurance plan, and are in the works of creating a better housing plan for the graduate assistant students.

Most students are saying that this is not enough.