Graduate students seeking to unionize filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Friday afternoon, potentially making the University the last Ivy League school to have a recognized graduate student union.
The move by Princeton Graduate Students United (PGSU) comes two weeks after postdoctoral workers at the University filed for an NLRB election. If recognized, PGSU would be affiliated with the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers (UE), and become the largest union on campus. There are currently 3,225 graduate students enrolled at the University.
UE has also represented graduate workers at the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“The University agrees that a secret-ballot election is the most inclusive, fair, and secure method for those eligible to express their preference whether to be represented by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America,” University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian. “It is important to note that by design, union representation would change some aspects of graduate students’ relationship with Princeton, and the University has concerns about how such representation would affect graduate students’ education and experience here.”
Gaby Nair GS, an organizer with PGSU, told the ‘Prince’ that a “strong majority” of graduate students had signed union cards. The threshold for an NLRB election is 30 percent.
PGSU was unable to provide a specific number of signatories to the ‘Prince.’
“We’re really looking forward to getting [an election] date … hopefully that process goes smoothly. We’ve seen it not go smoothly at some of our peer institutions,” Nair said, referencing unionization efforts at the University of Pennsylvania. There, graduate students initially filed for a union election in October, but were delayed by an NLRB ruling that declared roughly 300 students under certain educational fellowships ineligible. The union at Penn was set to vote this Tuesday and Wednesday, but it was rescheduled to May 1 and 2.
Princeton has been slower to unionize than some of its peer institutions. Apart from Penn, all other Ivy League universities have formally recognized graduate student unions.
“I think that we have less of that institutional history to draw on than some of our peer institutions,” Nair said, pointing to the legacy of union organizing at schools like Yale, where graduate students began pushing for union recognition in the 1990s.
However, she added, “in some ways, we’re on the same wave as all of our peer institutions.” Graduate students at Vanderbilt, for example, are still in the midst of their card campaign.
PGSU first formed following the NLRB’s 2016 ruling that graduate students were entitled to collective bargaining, but paused efforts after the NLRB temporarily reversed its decision in 2019. In February 2023, more than half of graduate students had signed union cards.
PGSU has also taken a number of positions on wider campus issues, including supporting undergraduate protests regarding climate change, racial diversity, and Title IX from 2017 to 2019. During the pandemic, they petitioned the University to extend degree timelines, research deadlines, and accommodations for international students. After students returned to campus, PGSU partnered with the Disability Collective to advocate for remote learning options.
Miriam Waldvogel is an associate News editor and the Investigations Editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Stockton, Calif. and often covers campus activism and University accountability.
Meghana Veldhuis is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Bergen County, N.J. and typically covers faculty and graduate students.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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