Will Penn State graduate workers unionize? Voting starts after yearslong push
Following a yearslong effort, graduate workers at Penn State will have the opportunity to vote in a unionization election starting as early as this week for some campuses.
The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board issued an order that outlined when and where voting would take place, and who is eligible to vote. The Coalition of Graduate Employees at Penn State is affiliated with the United Auto Workers union.
Generally speaking, the order states those who are on a graduate assistantship, like teaching assistants or research assistants, are eligible to vote. Trainees are not eligible, per a previous PLRB ruling. The order includes a list of the thousands of names of those eligible to vote.
For those at University Park, in-person voting is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 27-29, in the Dewey Room (W043) in the Pattee and Paterno Libraries. College of Medicine graduate workers had the opportunity to vote in person on Tuesday in Hershey. Mail-in ballots were mailed to graduate workers at the Behrend, Harrisburg and Great Valley campuses; those ballots must be returned to and received by the PLBR’s Harrisburg office by 5 p.m. Nov. 12.
Jess Rafalko, a research assistant in the English department, has been part of the unionization effort since she started at Penn State in fall 2020. For her, the fact that they’re now at the point of voting in a unionization election is the culmination of five years worth of work, she said.
“I’m just really energized by the conversations I’ve been having with other grad workers at Penn State, (talking) to people about getting out to vote. There’s a lot of enthusiasm here. So it’s an exciting time, I think,” Rafalko said in a phone interview.
She said unionizing is important for any workplace but especially so for a place like Penn State. A union would give them a collective voice to advocate for the roughly 5,000 graduate workers across the campuses, she said.
Pay and other employment benefits vary heavily from each department, so while one graduate worker may be satisfied with what they have, another may not be. That’s why the union is important, she said, to collectively decide working conditions, pay, benefits and more.
“I know that a lot of grad workers do not even have the bare minimum, things that I feel that I have. They’re not making a living wage. They’re not necessarily being supported by their supervisors, or things like that. So to me, unionizing is about protecting those of us who are most vulnerable and kind of like raising the floor of what the bare minimum should be for all of us,” Rafalko said.
Maddy Jupina, a graduate worker in Communication Arts and Sciences, said they have a lot to gain by unionizing.
“As people who really work toward the mission of being an R1 university and a world-class research institution, we deserve to have things like pay that keeps up with cost of living, all different resources to support grads who are, for example, parents or working on visas,” Jupina said. “...We’re part of a movement of tens of thousands of people all over the country, as well as thousands of people here at Penn State. We just have a lot to gain by voting yes to win our union.”
Both encouraged everyone who is eligible to vote to do so.
“Penn State kind of runs on grad worker labor. There are so many of us here who are doing that important work that keeps Penn State running, and we just want to be fairly compensated for it,” Rafalko said. “...This is our chance to have more of a say in our working conditions and to just make sure that we’re all basically having the same experience in our workplaces, and that that’s a positive experience.”
Graduate students at Penn State previously tried to unionize in 2017-18 but were unsuccessful.
In a release about the election, Penn State Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos said the university values the contributions of graduate student workers and the university views them as students first.
“We also believe graduate students are students, first and foremost, at Penn State to pursue an advanced education and research training. The institution remains committed to supporting the academic journey, professional growth, and well-being of students who are integral to the University’s scholarly mission,” Sotiropoulos said.
The release states the effects of unionizing can be “complex,” and some universities with unions have seen it impact flexibility and the number of opportunities for graduate students.
“With a union, for example, the University would not be permitted to deal directly with students in areas that are subject to collective bargaining (i.e., changes in individual stipends and benefits to recruit and retain top students),” the release states.
Currently, the university said it provides funding packages that include stipends, health coverage, academic resources and wellness services. But some graduate workers have said the stipends barely cover their necessities. In the university’s release, it said the total economic value of the packages for half-time graduate assistantships (20 hours/week) range from $63,400 to $73,200 for individuals, and from $73,800 to $83,600 for those receiving family insurance coverage.
What’s next?
The outcome of the election outcome will be decided by a simple majority of those who voted, Penn State said in a release. The ballots will be counted beginning at 10 a.m. each day Nov. 13-14 in Room E100 of the Labor and Industry Building at 651 Boas St., Harrisburg.
