UMN grad assistants: An unofficial majority say they want a union

A majority of the University of Minnesota's 4,500 or so graduate assistants have signed cards indicating they want a to form a union, a representative of the group told me today.

They're actually having a rally this morning with a number of supportive politicians, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison.

Spokeswoman Diane O'Brien said the Rev. Douglas Donley, pastor of University Baptist Church, and Bishop D. L. Bryant-Kemp, former pastor of the Greater Refuge Temple in St. Paul, have verified the number of cards submitted.

The achievement of a majority is largely symbolic, because the assistants must still hold an election to decide whether to establish a union. But I figure it does give some indication of their leaning.

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