An April 23 email from Dean of the Graduate School Rodney Priestley informed graduate students that the University had entered into a stipulated election agreement with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), marking the official first step towards a graduate student union. Princeton is the only Ivy League school that does not currently have a recognized graduate student union.
The announcement comes after the Princeton Graduate Student Union (PGSU) filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on April 12. If the election is successful, the union will become the largest on campus. There are currently 3,235 graduate students enrolled at the University.
“The University acknowledges the right under current NLRB precedent of eligible graduate students who share a community of interest (as defined by the NLRB) to unionize and agrees that a secret-ballot election is the most inclusive, fair, and secure method for eligible voters to express their preference whether to be represented by UE,” the email stated.
The election is scheduled for Monday, May 13, and Tuesday, May 14, on both days between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. and between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., in Frist Campus Center 302 — just four days after the scheduled unionization vote for Princeton University Postdocs and Scholars (PUPS).
All graduate students enrolled in degree programs holding appointments as Assistants in Instruction and/or Assistants in Research, including master’s and doctoral students/candidates holding such appointments, are eligible to vote and would be in the bargaining unit, according to the announcement. Of these eligible candidates, those defending their dissertation or thesis in April will vote provisionally. Their vote will only count if they are enrolled at the time of the election.
In a statement to the ‘Prince’ Wednesday evening, University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill clarified that, “Per Graduate School policy, enrollment of graduate students ends the first of the month following their “Final Public Oral” (FPO) examination. So, students who defend their dissertation in April will no longer be enrolled at the time of the mid-May union election.”
Those ineligible are “doctoral graduate students supported exclusively on internal fellowships (e.g., first-year fellowships, honorific fellowships, or University fellowships that support nearly all graduate students in the humanities or social sciences), exclusively on external fellowships, or a combination of both,” according to the announcement.
The University did not directly answer a question about what percentage of humanities and social sciences doctoral students would be ineligible, in a written comment to the ‘Prince.’ However, Morrill did note that eligibility was “determined by a stipulated election agreement with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), approved by the NLRB,” and that eligible voters “have been notified via email from the Graduate School.”
The threshold for an NLRB election to be called is 30 percent of the voting population.
In the letter, Priestley reiterated his concerns about unionization, which he also shared in a February 2023 memo to graduate students, but added, “we respect your right to exercise your vote and to make your voice heard about whether union representation is right for students at Princeton.”
Words of caution were sprinkled throughout the letter. Priestley encouraged graduate students to be fully informed about the legal and contractual changes that come with unionization and shared a link to the Graduate School’s page which includes information regarding the election process, graduate students’ rights and critical role in the process, and the possible consequences of unionization.
A Q&A session with representatives of the Graduate School and other “relevant University offices” will be announced at a later date, according to the letter.
Priestley shared his personal belief that the University has developed “one of the most robust financial and benefits packages for graduate students in the nation; a primarily residential community with an array of housing options for students and families; and services and opportunities that support the professional, social, and physical wellbeing of students.”
He also referenced the shared governance model announced on April 1, wherein graduate students now have seats on the Faculty Committee for the Graduate School, as an example of expanding collaboration with graduate students.
PGSU has been pushing for unionization since they first formed in 2016 following the NLRB’s ruling that year which said graduate students were entitled to collective bargaining. Organizers took a brief pause in 2019 after the NLRB temporarily reversed its decision. In February 2023, more than half of graduate students had signed union cards.
PGSU joins a wave of graduate students at peer institutions seeking unionization. Graduate students at Vanderbilt, for example, are still in the midst of their card campaign.
UE, the union representing Princeton graduate students, has also represented graduate workers at the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Not all graduate students are ready to vote “yes” on unionization. An opinion article published in the ‘Prince’ by a graduate student last spring argued that many of PGSU’s demands would not result in significant improvement or are unrealistic.
PGSU’s website articulates six specific goals for the unionization effort: “fair and effective cross-campus grievance procedures,” “improved support for international students,” “comprehensive, inclusive and funded healthcare and childcare,” “affordable housing guaranteed through graduation,” “guaranteed cost of living adjustments and contingency funding,” and “fair, clear and safe work standards.”
Priestley’s letter encouraged students to consider the pros and cons of representation, warning that there is no right to “opt out” of the union.
The letter concluded by assuring graduate students that if a union is approved through an election, the University will “negotiate with the union in good faith to arrive at a collective bargaining agreement.”
Bridget O’Neill is a head News editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
Correction: a previous version of this article stated that the election would take place between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on May 13 and between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on May 14, when in fact voting is open during both time slots on both days. The ‘Prince’ regrets this error.
Editor’s note: This piece has been updated to include comment from University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill.
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