Union vote could begin this semester for more than 5,000 Penn State faculty members
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Penn State told faculty union voting could begin later this semester via mail‑in ballots.
- Organizers urge the university to refrain from using public funds on anti‑union campaigns.
- Election will generally cover tenure‑line, non‑tenure‑line and part‑time faculty
Penn State faculty members are inching closer to the opportunity to vote in a unionization election.
Penn State’s Executive Vice President and Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos sent a letter to faculty members Wednesday stating voting could begin as soon as later this semester. Penn State faculty members filed to form a union with the Penn State Faculty Alliance–SEIU Local 668 in December, about 10 months after announcing their intent to unionize.
It could be one of largest public sector union elections in Pennsylvania history, Steve Catanese, president of SEIU Local 668, said during a December press conference.
“Yesterday afternoon, the University participated in a conference call with the PLRB and union representatives to discuss the details and logistics of the upcoming election involving more than 5,000 faculty members. Although the date of an election has not been finalized, we anticipate voting could begin later this semester through mail-in ballots,” Sotiropoulos wrote.
The election process is for tenure-line (pre-tenure and tenured), non-tenure-line and part-time faculty, excluding the College of Medicine and the Applied Research Laboratory, he said.
Beth Seymour, a faculty member at Penn State Altoona and a member of the PSFA organizing committee, said they had a productive conversation with the administration’s legal counsel and are hopeful the election moves forward this semester.
“We are also asking the administration to respect faculty members’ right to form a union and refrain from using public funds and student tuition dollars on costly anti-union campaigns and anti-worker tactics,” Seymour said in an email. “Faculty members deserve a voice in Penn State’s decision-making process, and we are excited to move forward to improve working conditions in collaboration with our University community.”
The university launched a website, unionfacts.psu.edu/faculty-unionization-home, and email, unionfacts@psu.edu, for faculty to use for questions. Sotiropoulos urged faculty to learn about the union and to participate in the election, as the outcome is determined by a majority of votes cast, not a majority of all eligible voters.
The announcement that the faculty were starting the process of forming a union came in February 2025, the same week that the university announced it was exploring closing several of its commonwealth campuses. Other unionization efforts have ramped up across the university, including graduate students overwhelmingly voting in favor of a union last semester. Teamsters Local 8, a labor union representing technical service workers at every Penn State campus, is also seeking to significantly expand its membership by organizing some university workers who currently fall outside of its scope.
