Penn grad students vote to unionize their 4,000-person workforce after two decades of attempts

After more than two decades, graduate student workers at the University of Pennsylvania have voted to form a union.

The vote was 95% in favor of the union, with 1,904 of the 3,700 eligible voters turning out, Graduate Employees Together University of Pennsylvania (GET-UP) announced Friday afternoon. They will join the United Auto Workers, which represents student workers at several other universities across the United States.

It may be the largest-ever private-sector union formed in Philadelphia, according to research by leaders at the AFL-CIO Philadelphia Council.

“At Penn, we engage as a community to advance what is important to us all — a dynamic and supportive academic environment,” a university spokesperson said. “We look forward to working with representatives from the UAW to continue this important mission for Penn’s graduate and professional students.”

Penn is the largest employer in the city of Philadelphia. The university has relationships with existing unions and has seen a wave of organizing activity among previously nonunionized workforces over the past two years.

Employees at the Penn Museum unionized in 2021 and ratified a first contract in June. Residents and fellows in the University of Pennsylvania Health System voted to unionize almost exactly a year ago, and they’re working on negotiating a first contract. A few months later, resident assistants at Penn formed the first RA union in the Philadelphia area, quickly followed by RAs at Swarthmore College and Drexel University.

“I see this as something that’s larger than just Penn,” said Sam Schirvar, a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in history and sociology of science, who has also worked as a teaching assistant and lecturer. “I’m looking forward to organized labor being a stronger force in Philadelphia and beyond.”

GET-UP filed a petition to unionize in October with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Organizers said about 3,000 student workers submitted authorization cards to join UAW.

But unionizing efforts by Penn grad students started long before that.

The first movement started in 2000 and unsuccessfully pursued union recognition from the university in 2003 and 2017.

“A lot of people have put in a lot of time toward getting us to where we are now,” said Raghu Arghal, a fourth year Ph.D. student and researcher in electrical and systems engineering. “Despite any frustration and how long and difficult this process is, it’s worth it.”

Luella Allen-Waller, a biology researcher and Ph.D. candidate who joined GET-UP’s efforts in 2022, said organizers have been referring to the earlier two attempts at unionizing as iterations 1.0 and 2.0. Both of those efforts ended, she said, because organizers were concerned that the NLRB, then operating under Republican presidents, might overturn a union formed by student workers, potentially setting back opportunities for other university movements across the country.

“The frustration they must have felt does make this week sweeter for those of us who happen to be here now,” Allen-Walker said.

GET-UP’s movement gathered steam amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Schirvar said, and meetings got more crowded.

“The early months of the pandemic, we were seeing this large change to all of our lives, and we were seeing this institution we were working for expecting a lot out of us very quickly,” Schirvar said.

Allen-Walker said the pandemic was particularly pivotal for those in science, technology, engineering, and math, who have historically been less engaged in organizing because they were often better-compensated than humanities grad students. Then, she said, during the pandemic, some felt uncomfortable with how quickly they were summoned back to campus before a vaccine was available.

“That created a lot of frustration,” Allen-Walker said. “It also created distrust.”

After filing an election petition with the NLRB in the fall, GET-UP faced challenges from the university about who should be included in the potential union and eligible to vote. The election was originally scheduled to take place in mid-April, and was postponed until May amid debates.

As a result, organizers said, 3,700 student workers were eligible to have their votes counted this week. The NLRB allowed another 300 potential union members to cast their ballots subject to challenge, since they were only recently added to the voter list, but would not change the result given Friday’s count.

Throughout their rallies and organizing events, GET-UP members have recounted personal struggles with long hours, low pay, and lack of resources — especially for international students. They’ve also expressed desire for a more democratically run workplace and educational system.

Other employees at Penn have rallied in support, including professors who are organized but unable to unionize under the NLRB unless the university voluntarily recognizes it. A coalition has formed at Penn, with support from the AFL-CIO Philadelphia Council, to unite the new unions with existing ones.

The next step for GET-UP will be bargaining a contract.

For the Penn Museum workers, that process took two years. The medical residents now are in their eighth month of bargaining and held a rally Wednesday with support from GET-UP to continue raising awareness of their campaign.

Allen-Walker said it’s been “frustrating” to watch the other Penn unions slog through bargaining, but Arghal said he’s “cautiously optimistic” after seeing how engaged the student workers have become.

“I have no doubt that it will be a tough fight ahead,” Schirvar said, “But it’s a fight that Penn graduate workers are prepared for.”