Editor's Note: The following is an updated version of an original e-mail sent by the University of Chicago Advocacy Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) to its members.

Dear Colleagues,   

Today, Graduate Students United withdrew its petition before the National Labor Relations Board, which means that its Certification of Representative has now been revoked. This decision was made to prevent the University of Chicago administration from using this case as a tool to permit Trump Administration appointees to the NLRB to overturn the Columbia decision that recognized graduate student workers as employees. GSU has further explained the reasoning on its website. 

However, GSU is still a union, and is still demanding recognition directly from the University. Our AAUP chapter fully supports this demand. Provost Diermeier has called for “direct engagement with students.” Given the support for unionization demonstrated in October’s vote, it is clear that such direct engagement can only be accomplished by the University administration recognizing GSU as our graduate student worker union and joining it at the bargaining table.   

—The University of Chicago Chapter of the AAUP