FAQs

Yes, international student-workers absolutely have the same rights as US citizens to organize and support unionization efforts. It is illegal for any employer to punish workers for participating in workplace organizing. Additionally, there are no effects on visa or immigration status due to union participation or membership. International grad workers have been participating in and leading graduate union organizing for over a half-century now, and no one has brought forward cases of any complication arising from their status as an international student and union organizer or member.

Further, no one will be taking these actions on their own. The union is built on broad, public, majority support. This gives us both significant collective power and protection in numbers. We will not stand for any grad worker facing retaliation for building a union with their co-workers. If you are interested in reading more, we highly recommend this FAQ from our peers at Brown University:

Our goal as union members isn’t to conform every department and field to one exact way of operating. A union contract sets baseline standards and expectations across all departments. All departments have freedom to retain unique feature that conform to the minimum standards. Plus, it’s important to note that some things–like leaves, dental and vision insurance, grievance policies — simply can’t be resolved at the department level. We don’t think a one-size-fits-all approach would work either. That’s why it’s so important that we talk to everyone and have folks involved from every field.

Contracts typically encourage informal resolution of problems before involving union representatives as moderators. If disputes or alleged violations of the contract cannot be solved informally, then an individual RA or TA would have the option of involving the union or not. If a graduate student chooses to bring a grievance to the union then it can be put into writing and, taken to a neutral arbitrator to decide whether the University violated the contract.

Any retaliation for union membership or activity is unlawful. Many, many faculty have expressed both privately and publicly that they support graduate student efforts to unionize. Many also appreciate the role that GSU plays as a voice for student and faculty interests on campus at a time when faculty face increasing pressure to avoid controversial positions. Faculty and students share many of the same concerns and interests: we want to thrive as scholars and workers on campus, to complete our degrees on schedule, and to go on to the careers we’ve been preparing for. GSU’s fiscal and administrative independence from the university enables us to speak openly and freely on issues of concern to us. Some faculty members may be unfamiliar with GSU and its aims, but many more know us well and view us as allies in making the university a better place. For example, through the University of Chicago Labor Council, we work with other workers and unions on campus, including the American Association of University Professors and Faculty Forward, with the united goal of improving higher education and campus working conditions for all.

That said, your faculty advisor doesn’t need to know whether you signed a card. GSU takes extensive measures to protect the confidentiality of its members: our membership list is stored on non-university servers, and most of our communication takes place off university servers as well.

The union is you and your coworkers. If you all vote to go on a strike, then you all will go on a strike. It will be a democratic decision either way. If the Administration bargains with us in good faith and treats us fairly, we will never have to go on strike. In fact, part of the motivation for signing a majority of graduate students on union cards is that this show of strength could encourage the Administration to recognize our union without contest. In that case, we would never have to go on strike; in fact, many private-university graduate student unions have never had to authorize a strike.

That said, our labor is our most powerful bargaining chip. We generate immense value for our university through our research, teaching, and other activities. Withholding that labor sends a powerful message. Our university works because we do.

In all cases, a decision to strike is not made lightly. A strike requires a supermajority vote of all grad workers (this is called a strike authorization vote). This means a supermajority of graduate workers will have decided that the Administration is not negotiating fairly with our union and are ready to strike. Our union will never force any worker to go on strike, but if we decide to strike, our strike is most powerful when we stand united.

We are bargaining for a contract that will allow us to raise workplace issues or grievances through a formal grievance process. Until then, we can help you with a workplace issue or grievance by:

Representing you legally in meetings under your Weingarten Rights.

Sharing the union’s knowledge of precedents and University policies with you;

Advocating for you in whatever capacity best fits your situation (e.g., attending a meeting with you, helping you draft an email to an administrator, connecting you with other graduate workers in similar situations, providing you with training and resources to organize your department, etc.);

Organizing direct actions to address the issue.

A Union’s power lies in the collective knowledge and experience our members have amassed in their time as student workers, and members’ commitment to standing in solidarity with each other when facing unjust or otherwise difficult working conditions.

Upon negotiating a contract, GSU will have even more power to redress grievances. We have already secured, but yet to be enacted grievance procedure which provides due process to a member (or the union as an organization) if the contract is violated. Our procedure allow for unresolved grievances to be taken to an outside neutral arbitrator, whose decision is legally binding. For more examples of how a fair and effective grievance procedure can work after a contract is ratified, you can check out highlights of how graduate employees at the University of Washington have successfully enforced their rights under the Union contract on issues ranging from pregnancy discrimination and tuition/fee waivers to payment and health and safety issues.

When an issue related to our workplace, such as harassment or discrimination, is resolved fairly, the campus climate changes.

Additionally, all of us, as workers of the University, hold power. A union provides a channel to use that power to bring changes our workplace for the better.

We have done it through cancelling fees, improving support structure for parents, and more recently more on workplace inclusivity.

Grad worker unions across the country have negotiated significant benefits and rights across several areas, including diversity and inclusion, compensation, work expectations, protections against retaliation, fairer grievance procedures, and international student protections. Some specific examples of negotiated contract items include:

• Access to a neutral arbitrator during disputes

• Defined grievance procedures for harassment or discrimination

• Stipend increases with annual raises

• Medical and dental insurance, dependent coverage.

• Paid sick days, bereavement leaves

• Longer and more flexible medical/ parental leave

• Various transit subsidies