The Oberlin Review, Oberlin College's proud paper of record (est. 1874) has some explainin' to do. They ran a series of articles and an unsigned editorial on the potential UAW strike (here, here, and here). This blogger's sources at The Review tell me that most--if not all--of the sources for their stories were Union workers. President Krislov and other administration officials apparently declined to comment. It seems that the College is legally bound not to reveal anything about ongoing labour negotiations.
Sources in the Administration, Student Senate, and The Review have all told me that the administration feels The Review article was full of shit (I'm paraphrasing, obviously), as--they claim--healthcare has nothing to do with the negotiations. However, my sources inside the union tell me that healthcare does have to do with the negotiations.
Oh Noze!
Look, the administration is refusing to even leak background information about the strike talks, and the unions are talking. I'm with The Review on this one. If the college isn't going to comment on the record, then they'll just have to deal with a one-sided account of what's going on. That's the price you pay for not treating The Review like a serious publication. In other words, if President Krislov and the trustees are pissed because they feel that no one knows their side of the story, then why not get some Communications Office flunky to say something to someone. If you're that pissed at The Review, The Grape would be happy to get that scoop. I know, I know, they're not supposed to say anything, but since I'm just a blogger and a lowly copy editor and I've heard more than one administration official bitching about The Review's coverage, I'd say the cat's pretty much out of the bag.
In other news, while there are a lot of rumors flying around, and I wouldn't believe half of them, the fact that this campus is so pro-union even without knowing the facts is a testament to the strength of the labour movement here on campus. W00t.
Although I do wish we knew what the hell was going on... Krislov, spread the love.
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