Penn State graduate students overwhelmingly vote in favor of unionizing
Penn State graduate students voted overwhelmingly in favor of unionizing, the Coalition of Graduate Employees at Penn State announced on social media Thursday.
The post states 90% of students who voted, voted “yes” to a union; 1,882 students voted yes and 198 voted no. Eligible graduate students had the opportunity to vote for or against unionization in an election that took place in late October.
The news comes after a yearslong effort to unionize by The Coalition of Graduate Employees at Penn State, which is affiliated with the United Auto Workers union.
Graduate workers in favor of unionizing previously said having a collective voice to advocate for the roughly 5,000 graduate workers is important at a place like Penn State, and cited issues like pay and other employment benefits that vary heavily from each department.
“Nearly a year after we filed cards with the Pennsylvania Labor Board, we have finally won the right to collectively advocate for the workplace we deserve,” the Coalition of Graduate Employees wrote in an Instagram post. “We’ve demonstrated overwhelming support for our union and our willingness to show up for ourselves and each other when it counts!”
A spokesperson for Penn State did not immediately respond for a request for comment. But university leadership has previously cautioned against the graduate students unionizing. While they said Penn State values the work graduate students contribute to the university, they view them as students first, and are at Penn State to obtain an education and research training.
The university previously said 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.
Graduate students at Penn State previously tried to unionize in 2017-18 but were unsuccessful. Penn State faculty are in the process of forming a union, and Teamsters Local 8, a labor union representing technical service workers at every Penn State campus, is seeking to significantly expand its membership by organizing some university workers who currently fall outside of its scope.
This story was originally published November 13, 2025 at 1:40 PM.
