U-M grad student claims lost job over union effort

ANN ARBOR (AP) -- A University of Michigan graduate student claims she lost her job after supporting efforts to unionize graduate student research assistants. The Detroit Free Press recently reported that Jennifer Dibbern lost her research funding and was kicked out of her academic program. She tells the newspaper she wants to highlight a need to protect research assistants. School spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said in a statement that "we believe certain of the union's factual claims are unfounded." He said the issue is an academic matter that the school is prohibited from discussing publicly. Dibbern's work was in the College of Engineering. The Michigan Employment Relations Commission in August affirmed a 1981 decision that bars research assistants from banding together. There's an ongoing dispute about whether that should be overturned. Published: Thu, Jan 19, 2012