Penn State graduate students looking to unionize rallied on the steps of Old Main Thursday, with organizers saying they have the signatures needed to move to the next step in the unionization process.
Stephanie Szarmach, a grad student in biology, was one of a few hundred people at the rally.
“I think it’s really important for the university to fully be valuing grad students and the labor that we’re putting into the functioning of the university," she said. "Without grad students TAing courses, doing research, mentoring undergraduates, the university wouldn’t be able to run."
The Coalition of Graduate Employees at Penn State hopes to unionize with the United Auto Workers, which already represents grad students from other universities. Supporters of the effort say their concerns include fair pay across departments, stipends that keep up with inflation and the protection of health care benefits.
Organizers say more than half of graduate employees have signed union cards, which is more than the one-third needed for an election to take place. A next step will be submitting the signatures to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. The union would represent grad students across the university who receive stipends.
A Penn State spokesman said the university is “committed to the successful intellectual and professional development of its graduate students.” He said the university is aware of the effort to unionize, but did not comment specifically on it.
A drive to unionize Penn State grad student employees failed in 2018, when most voted against unionizing.
WPSU intern Erell Williams contributed to this report.
