***Tell NYU to Adopt a Fair Labor Code of Conduct! Sign the petition! Go to: http://www.petitiononline.com/nyulabor/petition.html
New York University has announced plans to build a full-service, NYU degree-issuing branch campus, the first of its kind, in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). While many in the NYU Community have raised a variety of concerns about NYU in Abu Dhabi, the Coalition for Fair Labor at NYU has formed to address the specific issues of fair working conditions on all NYU campuses in the hopes of promoting dialogue that does not make presumptive statements about Abu Dhabi or regional culture and that recognizes labor exploitation on NYU’s New York campus. The Coalition for Fair Labor at NYU joins faculty, students and other members of the NYU community in collective response to the absence of fair labor standards governing the development, construction and operation of NYU Abu Dhabi.
NYU Abu Dhabi – a possibly tenure insufficient university being constructed by a government noted for its abuse of migrant worker labor – risks undermining the importance of labor rights and academic freedom on both campuses and exacerbating migrant labor exploitation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
To ensure that NYU proceeds with the development of NYU Abu Dhabi and all future global sites in a way that protects vulnerable migrant workers, the Coalition for Fair Labor at NYU urges NYU to sign – and insist its UAE partners abide by – the Fair Labor Code of Conduct, which governs workplace relationships with all subcontractors involved in construction and day-to-day operations of the campus. By adopting the Fair Labor Code of Conduct, NYU can – as befitting a university committed to democratic principles – provide a model for labor practice in a region experiencing unprecedented attention by US/Western universities interested in establishing branch campuses at sites in and around Abu Dhabi.
Protecting Academic Freedom
Academic freedom depends on the security provided by tenure to allow faculty to voice opinions, research and teach without fear of reprisal. On NYU’s Washington Square campus, an estimated 72% of NYU teaching faculty are now off the tenure-track. NYU should avoid replicating the inequalities of numbers and compensation between tenure and non-tenured faculty on its overseas campuses. Without NYU’s express commitment to a permanent, numerically significant, tenured faculty on-site at NYU Abu Dhabi, basic academic freedoms and faculty governance will be further eroded. The Coalition for Fair Labor urges NYU to take active steps to ensure that the foundational commitments of the university teaching profession are upheld in its overseas hiring practices.
Establishing a Fair Labor Code of Conduct for Workers Rights
Migrant labor provides up to 95% of the workforce in the UAE. The majority of the estimated 700,000 construction workers in the country are from Southeast Asian countries, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Human Rights Watch has documented extensive abuse and exploitation of the migrant workforce involved in the UAE’s construction boom. Human Rights Watch expressed concern about these practices in a September 2007 letter to President Sexton’s administration that went unanswered.
Human Rights Watch and members of the Coalition for Fair Labor at NYU are finalizing a Fair Labor Code of Conduct to address the UAE’s dependence on contractors and migrant labor. This Fair Labor Code of Conduct is modeled on the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC) Code of Conduct (WRC code available at http://www.workersrights.org/university/coc.asp). The Workers Rights Consortium is an independent labor rights monitoring organization that over 180 colleges and universities – including NYU – have joined to ensure fair labor practice at the factories manufacturing apparel and other goods bearing university logos. The Workers Rights Consortium has agreed to monitor construction and operation of the Abu Dhabi campus. NYU’s preexisting relationship with the Workers Rights Consortium should hasten and enable its adoption of the Fair Labor Code of Conduct and encourage NYU to fulfill its obligation to comply with all WRC recommendations. By allowing an independent group to monitor the activities of its subcontractors, NYU has the opportunity to set a standard for transparency and governance that other universities and institutions engaging in global site development will follow.
***SIGN THE NYU FAIR LABOR CODE OF CONDUCT PETITION! Go to: http://www.petitiononline.com/nyulabor/petition.html
QUESTIONS? WANT TO JOIN THE COALITION? Email fairlabornyu@gmail.com
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