Union Tosses In Towel

The Graduate Student and Teaching Fellow Union threw in the towel this week, ending almost three months of sporadic opposition to the graduate school's Kraus plan for financial aid to students.

At an open meeting Thursday night that scared up only 22 graduate students, Union members declared that they had run out of steam and voted to postpone organizing activities until next Fall.

The Union called off its most recent effort--a drive for National Labor Relations Board recognition as the graduate students' official bargaining agent--when members announced that only 112 teaching fellows had signed petitions authorizing the Union to represent them.

At least 400 teaching fellows--30 per cent of the bargaining unit--have to endorse the union before the NLRB will conduct a recognition election.

The Union plans to resume its organizing and educational drives next Fall, expecting that reinforcements--in the form of new and returning graduate students--will strengthen its ranks.