Word is that this Thursday, June 15, at noon, the result of the chard check ballot of the would-be bargaining unit will be announced on the UM Campus at the Episcopal Church.
Recall that the settlement of the strike requires the unionizers to get a 60% super-majority in order to be recognized. But it gave them until Aug. 1 to achieve this total.
I have no inside information as to what this early announcement means, but logically it must mean either that they got the 60% or that so many people have voted that 60% is no longer possible. I’ll bet on the former.
Incidentally, the strike-related student discipline cases grind on. Because the formal charges were not filed until the summer term, the cases will be heard in camera by a single dean, acting as judge and jury; had charges been filed before the end of the school year, the students would have been entitled to much more process, to students as members of the tribunal, and to representation before the tribunal. So that’s not so great, unless the administration were to use this as an occasion for clemency — something for which I hope, but I’m not holding my breath.
