Penn State is trying to deny graduate workers their right to unionize.

Penn State is trying to deny graduate workers their right to unionize.

Last fall, Penn State graduate research and teaching assistants voted overwhelmingly to form a union with the Coalition of Graduate Employees-United Auto Workers. Rather than meet workers at the bargaining table, Old Main is now trying to overturn lasting labor law in Pennsylvania by appealing the election results and claiming that research assistants are not real workers. Penn State's leaders must respect democracy at Penn State, drop the appeal, and meet all graduate workers at the bargaining table today.

Penn State's graduate workers formed a union to win fair pay, real protections, and respect in the workplace, joining unionized peers at 11 Big Ten institutions alongside Temple, Pitt, and Penn. We know that graduate workers make Penn State run: TAs are instructors of record for first-year and core classes across the university, and RAs labor on projects that bring hundreds of millions in research dollars to Penn State each year. Despite their critical work, many face low stipends, inadequate healthcare, no protections against harassment, and unpredictable workloads.

Penn State must stop fighting its own workers and allies and start negotiating a contract with all unionized RAs and TAs at the university today.

Tell the Board of Trustees:
Respect our researchers and teachers!

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As a member of the Penn State community, I am asking the Board of Trustees to respect graduate workers' decision to unionize, drop the appeal, and begin good-faith contract negotiations with CGE-UAW for a contract that covers all graduate employees — RAs and TAs alike. Graduate workers make Penn State possible. TAs serve as instructors of record for first-year and core courses across the university, guiding thousands of students through the classes that define their Penn State education. RAs carry out the research behind hundreds of millions of dollars in grant funding. Both roles are labor, and both deserve recognition as such.

Last fall, graduate research and teaching assistants voted overwhelmingly to form a union with the Coalition of Graduate Employees-UAW. Rather than accept the outcome, the administration has appealed the election results, arguing that research assistants are not workers. Graduate workers are already unionized at 11 Big Ten institutions alongside Temple, Pitt, and Penn. The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board has recognized RAs as part of the bargaining unit. The vote has happened, and the result was clear. While the university commits time, energy, and resources to relitigating what graduate workers have already decided, the problems that drove them to organize remain unaddressed. Many graduate employees face stipends that fall short of the cost of living, inadequate healthcare, limited protections against harassment, and unpredictable workloads. A contract will help graduate employees do their critical work with the support and protections they deserve.

Unionized academic workers at peer institutions have not weakened their universities' research missions. To the contrary, unionized graduate workers across the country have been actively fighting to protect research funding through organizing and litigation — efforts that benefit institutions like Penn State. Graduate workers here voted to join that movement. Please respect their vote by dropping the appeal and negotiating a contract with all graduate research and teaching assistants.

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