What Else Can I Do?

Parents, students and alums: here is an action you can take as a tuition-paying member of the NYU community.

Please find below a template for an email, fax or snail-mail communication to President Sexton and Vice-Chancellor Westermann.

********************

[Your address]

President John Sexton

Elmer Holmes Bobst Library

70 Washington Square South, 12^th Floor

New York, NY 10012

Tel: (212) 998-2345
Fax: (212) 995-4790

john.sexton@nyu.edu

Vice Chancellor Mariët Westermann

Elmer Holmes Bobst Library

70 Washington Square South, Room 1242

New York, NY 10012

Tel: (212) 992-7946

mariet.westermann@nyu.edu

[Date]

Dear President Sexton and Vice Chancellor Westermann,

As [an undergraduate student at/ parent of an undergraduate student at/an alumnus/a of] New York University, I am writing in reference to the absence of fair labor standards governing the construction and operation of NYU’s proposed branch campus in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. While I understand that the UAE government will fund the construction and operation of the new Abu Dhabi branch campus, those of us [who are paying/who have paid] tuition at the Washington Square campus have a particular stake in the university’s plans to lend its name to a branch campus, as do other members of NYU’s teaching, research and learning communities. As a democratic institution dedicated to responsible academic practice, NYU should protect and foster its reputation by refusing to profit from unfair labor practices. I write to address two labor issues in particular: the reliance of the UAE construction industry on exploited migrant labor and the lack of transparency surrounding academic hiring at NYU Abu Dhabi.

The U.S. State Department and organizations like Human Rights Watch have routinely documented serious violations of workers’ rights in the UAE, inlcuding nonpayment of wages, withholding of passports, unsafe working conditions, no protections for collective bargaining rights and deportation for striking. In the absence of adequate UAE law and the government’s willingness to enforce it, only active precautions will prevent the further abuse of UAE migrant labor. Before construction of NYU Abu Dhabi begins, I urge you to adopt the Fair Labor Code of Conduct (sponsored by the Coalition for Fair Labor at NYU) governing the construction, development and operation of NYU Abu Dhabi and agree to monitoring by an independent agency like the Workers Rights Consortium, to ensure that fair labor practices are upheld and labor exploitation does not occur in NYU’s name.

I also ask you to ensure that academic hiring practices at NYU Abu Dhabi do not reproduce the inequalities between tenured and adjunct professors that characterize the Washington Square campus. Academic freedom depends on the security provided by tenure to allow faculty to voice opinions, research and teach without fear of reprisal. With 72% of the Washington Square professoriate off the tenure track, academic freedom and faculty governance will be further compromised unless NYU takes active steps to ensure that the foundational commitments of the university teaching profession are upheld in its overseas hiring practices.

By adopting the Fair Labor Code of Conduct, NYU will initiate a responsible model of global site development that other universities will surely follow, while setting a standard for labor practice in the region. As NYU strives to become the world’s first truly global university, I urge you to match its expansive educational vision with an equally cosmopolitan commitment to safeguarding the rights of those whose work creates and sustains our global university.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]