While googling friends in a fit of boredom i stumbled upon a memento of the most painful and exasperating experience organizing undergraduates - (other than the time Julie didn't show up at the Peabody action with the Llamas, which for some reason inspired me to have a temper tantrum. Thank god Abbey and Katie were there to talk me down.) I am speaking of the April 7, 2002 Six hour long YCC vote on whether or not to pass Matt Robinson's resolution condemning Card Check Neutrality and advising the university to never enter into a crad check agreement with anyone. Over the course of the night, we heard Robinson boast that he knew more about card check than anyone else in the room (which, in addition to a whole platoon of SLAC and USAY folks, also included Lis Pimentel, David Sanders, Anita Seth (listed in the minutes as Anita Singh, for some reason,) Michael Denning (listed as "Matt Denning." They didn't get Butler or Gaddis's names wrong... They also quote a "Katie Klein," but that's just me nitpicking) and Local 34 veteran Steve Fortes.) We also heard the editor in chief of the YDN, who is now a speechwriter for the Bush administration, vocally bash the union and urge representatives to vote for Robinson's resolution in a manner many found reprehensible. I had forgotten the sheer arrogance at play that evening. Reading the minutes reminds me of that, but also of how so many of us were willing to sit through all the bullshit and keep the pressure on to make sure that justice was served. While i still think of the whole night as a pretty disgusting moment in my life, i also think that folks like Jacob and Abby L., who argued that defeating the Robinson resolution and including a clause in the final resolution passed which urged the university to sit down with GESO was a huge victory, were right.



Anyway, if you want to revisit this sorry chapter in the history of undergraduate complicity in administrative attempts at union busting, you can do so here