Hi: some of you were kind enough to support the NYU Graduate Student Union (GSOC) in their strike. I have been asked to forward this message to you in support of their new organizing effort that stands some chance of success if things go the way they should in November: This email is on behalf of GSOC, the NYU graduate student union. We're writing to ask that you sign and circulate the "Petition in Support of the Teaching and Research Assistants Collective Bargaining Rights Act," available at <http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/TA_rights/>http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/TA_rights/. The petition urges members of Congress to co-sponsor and support the Teaching and Research Assistants Collective Bargaining Rights Act, which secures the right to form unions for TA's and RA's at private sector universities and colleges like NYU. Because the Act is federal legislation, ANYONE can sign the petition, so please circulate widely. You do not have to be registered to vote or a citizen of the US to sign - if you live in the US then you have an interest in what Congress decides is law. The Teaching and Research Assistants Collective Bargaining Rights Act currently enjoys the support of many powerful legislators, including Senator Ted Kennedy, Democratic Presidential nominee BarackObama, and Senator Hillary Clinton. International opinion is also on our side. This summer, the International Labor Organization, an agency of the United Nations, reaffirmed TA's and RA's internationally recognized right to form unions. (<http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/pdconv.pl?host=status01&textbase=iloeng&document=4817&chapter=3&query=%28%28United+States%29%29+@ref&highlight=&querytype=bool&context=0>Click here for more information.) To get this legislation passed, we need to do all we can to show Congress that people care about this issue and actively urge our Senators and Representatives to co-sponsor and support the Teaching and Research Assistants Collective Bargaining Rights Act. To help make sure that the Teaching and Research Assistants Collective Bargaining Rights Act passes in Congress and becomes federal law, please: Sign and Circulate the Online Petition! Go to: <http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/TA_rights/>http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/TA_rights/. ---- Learn to speak like a film/TV professor! Listen to the ScreenLex podcast: http://www.screenlex.org