Union election set for 5,000 Penn State faculty. What to know about ballots, more

Ballots for a union election will be mailed to more than 5,000 Penn State faculty starting April 1, with votes due back by May 6. The election comes amid tensions between the university administration and union organizers over anti-union messaging.

FULL STORY: ‘Your vote is crucial.’ Penn State faculty can vote in union election starting next month

Here are key takeaways:

• The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board will mail ballots to faculty home addresses on April 1. They must be returned by mail by May 6, and counting begins at 10 a.m. May 13.

• All faculty at University Park, University Libraries and commonwealth campuses are eligible to vote. The College of Medicine and Applied Research Laboratory are not included.

• The Penn State Faculty Alliance, affiliated with SEIU Local 668, filed for the election in December after more than 30% of eligible faculty signed authorization cards. SEIU Local 668 President Steve Catanese called it potentially the largest public sector union election in Pennsylvania history.

• More than 100 Pennsylvania state legislators urged the university administration to “exercise neutrality toward faculty unionization.” SEIU alleged Penn State has “increased its anti-union messaging, designed to divide and confuse faculty.”

• During a Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee hearing, Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said she would commit to not using public or university funds to discourage union participation. SEIU said the university then announced college-by-college meetings it called “anti-union,” which SEIU described as a reversal of that commitment.

• Other unionization efforts are active across Penn State: graduate students voted overwhelmingly in favor of a union last semester, and Teamsters Local 8 is seeking to expand its membership by organizing additional university workers.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.