Union-Recognition Election 2017

The results of our October 2017 union-recognition election are in:

1103 voted Yes
479 voted No

We have a union of graduate employees at the University of Chicago.

Follow GSU on Facebook and Twitter for updates!

The path to our election was as follows:

The Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled on 8th August 2017 that a vote on union representation was to take place October 17 and 18, on the UChicago campus, for our bargaining unit. After years of organizing, and months of stalling, we would have a formal opportunity to say #YesGSU!

The ruling specified the following voting eligibility formula: “All graduate students, including Masters students, who have received compensation for work performed in a unit position in at least one quarter of Autumn 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Summer 2017, or Autumn 2017 who have not yet attained their degree or otherwise completed their course of study with the Employer.” All schools and divisions included in our initial petition were eligible to vote: BSD, Divinity, Humanities, PSD, SSA, and SSD.

We initially petitioned for this vote in early May 2017 and hoped to vote in the Spring. The administration stretched what should have been a hearing of a few days into a two-week odyssey, arguing that our work was not work and that we did not create value for the university. By so doing, they delayed the election until October.

Click here to read the NLRB’s Decision and Direction of Election

In late September 2017, the University of Chicago administration appealed the Regional NLRB’s decision to order an election. Specifically, the administration requested a review of the election decision  and a motion to stay the election. However, because the Federal NLRB had not issued a decision, the union election continued as planned on October 17 and 18, 2017.