Penn State is appealing the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board's decision that research assistants, or RAs, should be included in the graduate workers’ union. The vote to form the union passed in the fall with 90% of participants voting yes.
Penn State says research is “an integral part of their academic training and degree requirements,” and the position differs from teaching or administrative assistants due to the instructional nature of those roles.
Penn State English department research assistant and PhD candidate Jess Rafalko said Penn State’s appeal is frustrating, but the experience has strengthened the unionization effort.
“This is something we want to be able to work with Penn State on. We have a lot of shared values and goals and we care about this university, we care about our students, we care about our research agendas, and we want to come together with them," Rafalko said.
The Coalition of Graduate Employees has an online petition asking Penn State to drop its appeal.
The group also held a demonstration and submitted comments before the university trustees’ meeting on February 20.
Rafalko said Penn State is trying to cut more than half its graduate workers from the collective bargaining process.
“That’s the thing that all of us as grad workers find unacceptable. We won’t let ourselves be divided in that way because we know that a job title is just a job title, and what unites us is that we’re all workers," Rafalko said.
There is no set date for the PLRB’s decision on Penn State’s appeal.
More information about the Coalition of Graduate Employees' efforts can be found at pennstategradworkers.org. Penn State's FAQs are at gradfacts.psu.edu.