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- March 31, 1982 (Création/Production)
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https://reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/stc:7429#/kaltura_audio
Biographical Information: Art Grachek was born on October 4, 1940, in Gilman, Minnesota. The youngest of five children, Art arrived at St. Cloud State in 1958, graduating with a BS degree in 1962. After graduation, Grachek continued his education at St. Cloud State, working as program advisor in the registrar’s office, and then earning his master’s degree in 1964. He then taught at Cathedral High School in St. Cloud, as well as taught courses at St. Cloud State and St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. With wife Barb, Art moved to Detroit in 1968 to attend Wayne State University. Grachek returned to St. Cloud State in the fall of 1971 to teach in Speech Communication. While at St. Cloud State, he finished his Ph.D. program in 1974. Grachek retired in 2003. Grachek married Barb Svela in 1964 and had two children together, Sara and Rebecca.
Transcript Summary: Grachek detailed his education and his return to St. Cloud State University in 1971. He discussed how he became interested in collective bargaining and unions, crediting his family involvement with labor unions. Grachek said Ruth Cadwell, whose house he lived in for five years while attending St. Cloud State University, introduced him to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
Grachek chronicled his first years at SCSU and how he became heavily involved with the Inter-Faculty Organization (IFO). He discussed the idea that the IFO needed a political force to accompany it, which is why they founded the Minnesota Education Association (MEA), which offered them tremendous support to establish a labor union for St. Cloud State faculty. Grachek described the work he did to educate people about the IFO-MEA, as well as his thoughts on why it was able to achieve victory, despite some initial resistance to the MEA.
Grachek described his ideas about the successes the IFO has achieved at St. Cloud State, including the fringe benefits it helped faculty obtain. He also discussed what he feels are problems with collective bargaining organizations, stating that some small local colleges lose their autonomy, which is something he hoped at the time would be remedied in the future.