GRADUATE STUDENTS UNITED
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Graduate Students United - United Electrical (GSU-UE) is the autonomous, democratic, member-run union of graduate student employees at the University of Chicago.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2025
gsu Statement on Budget Cuts
Last week, President Alivisatos and Provost Baicker announced major budget cuts across the university, many of which remove substantial resources that support the teaching, research, and programs of graduate workers at UChicago. The most severe changes include pausing numerous Masters and PhD program admissions for the 2026-27 academic year, reducing the internally-funded PhD population by 30% by 2030-31, and “restructuring” divisions such as the Arts and Humanities and Biological Sciences Divisions.
These cuts will markedly degrade the working conditions of graduate workers for years to come. Merging departments and pausing PhD admissions means that fields of study in small departments such as those in the Biological Sciences and the Arts and Humanities will essentially no longer exist. Many of these departments are nationally recognized and are leading their discipline– it would be tragic to lose these areas of expertise. The elimination of departments and the cutting of graduate workers will erode our intellectual communities from the bottom up.
Having fewer graduate workers places greater strain on the PhD students who remain. Graduate teaching assistants across the university in disciplines ranging from Physics to English will be burdened by larger class sciences and less institutional support. The elimination of entire fields of study will mean that there will be less chances for graduate workers to teach their own classes, a key aspect of training in the humanities and social sciences.
These cuts will also weaken our collective power. The reduction of PhD positions and the internally-funded PhD population will substantially shrink the number of graduate workers in our union. With fewer graduate workers in teaching and research positions, these cuts will jeopardize our union’s strength and our ability to improve our working conditions. Requiring workers to move onto grants more quickly and shortening time to degree will make grieving disciplinary and discharge cases and securing transitional funding much more challenging. These cuts undermine the power of campus workers to have a say in our workplace—and the plan UChicago administration has put forward shows they are willing to destroy the foundations of the university system to pull it off.
Graduate workers should not be the ones to bear the brunt of this financial crisis. As the Trump administration escalates its attacks on higher education, UChicago is using this moment of crisis as cover to accelerate austerity measures that have been in the works for decades—aiding and abetting the Trump administration in destroying our universities. These cuts are not simply a consequence of recent federal policy changes but of decades of mismanagement by a University administration that consistently prioritizes its financial investments over its mission and its workers. We demand the university administration to live up to its mission, not in empty rhetoric but by dedicating itself to protecting the workers whose labor turns these words into reality.
Universalize Benefits
Last year, we won new benefits improving dental, vision, transportation, and childcare. We were also one of the first grad unions to win payments for retirement. These steps set a key precedent, but there is still more work to do.
Because the University only recognizes certain types of graduate student labor as “work,” only students with certain appointments, such as RA- and TA-ships, will receive this support. Many people move in and out of these roles on a quarterly basis. This means that even students who should rightly receive benefits under the current policy fall through the cracks, lost in university bureaucracy. We believe that no matter their appointment, all graduate workers, for their entire degree, should have the resources to care for their health and plan for their future.
Grad unions at other institutions, like MIT, Northwestern, Dartmouth, and Johns Hopkins have won broad benefits for students beyond this narrow range of appointments. If they did it, we can, too. It’s time to universalize benefits!
On January 31, 2025, we elected 146 new Union Stewards to the ranks of GSU. Our stewards span the whole university, comprising our coworkers, colleagues, and friends. Union stewards are the first line of defense in fighting for your well-being in the workplace. We encourage anyone with a problem to seek out advice from your steward as soon as one arises.
At our Know Your Rights page, you will find a summary of our record-breaking new contract. It also includes a page detailing the grievance process where you can find your union steward and ask for help!
We elected 146 new Union Stewards!
RECENT NEWS
Sign A new membership card
All graduate workers who will receive the full benefits and protections of the contract (including teaching assistants; research assistants; grader; lecturers; preceptors and CCTL fellows) must choose to either: become a member of GSU-UE Local 1103 and pay dues, OR not become a member, and instead pay an agency fee to the union. The easiest way to become a current member of the Union is to sign a NEW membership card and authorize monthly membership dues.
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WHO WE ARE
GSU-UE is the labor union for graduate students employed in teaching or research at the University of Chicago. We won our ability to collectively bargain after fifteen years of organizing on campus. We won our election in March of 2023, and we ratified our first contract in March of 2024. We continue to support UChicago graduate workers now and into the future.
