By Donald Gilpin

Graduate students at Princeton University have filed for an election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), claiming to have a “strong majority” of graduate students who have signed union cards. They are hoping for an election in the next month.

The Princeton Graduate Students United (PGSU) is currently in discussions with the University administration and the NLRB regional office in Newark to arrange elections and set a date for voting.

If recognized, the PGSU would be affiliated with the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers (UE) and would be the largest union at Princeton University. Except for the University of Pennsylvania, where graduate workers are holding a union election next week on May 1 and 2, Princeton is currently the only Ivy League school that has not formally recognized a graduate student union.

“I’m excited,” said PGSU organizer Gaby Nair, a fourth year graduate student in the Princeton University politics department. “I think we’re going to win. We have a strong majority of graduate students who have signed authorization cards and we’re hoping to turn all those people out to vote in the election.”

Nair did not provide an exact count of how many of the 3,225 graduate students had signed cards, but if more than 50 percent of voting graduate students concur, the union will be legally recognized and can create a bargaining committee to negotiate with the University.

“If we win we will be guaranteed a seat at the table,” said Nair. “That means we get a say over our working and research conditions, something that we don’t yet have. Right now we have avenues for graduate student advocacy, but we haven’t yet won the right to a real say over our compensation, our benefits as employees, and other rights that come with recognition as workers, like workers’ compensation in case of injury on the job. That would be a change.”

She continued, “Just getting contract negotiations on the calendar is going to be huge. Now, when you’re a graduate student at Princeton you don’t get a contract. You get a re-enrollment letter and all the terms in the letter are decided by the University.”

Depending on the department, graduate students are generally expected to teach during a certain number of semesters and also possibly to serve as research assistants in a lab or as part of a research group.

Principal goals that the PGSU hopes to achieve through unionization include “fair and effective cross-campus grievance procedures,” “improved support for international students,” “comprehensive, inclusive, and funded healthcare and childcare,” “affordable housing guaranteed through graduation,” “guaranteed cost of living adjustments and contingency funding,” and “fair, clear, and safe work standards,” according to the PGSU’s platform as posted on their website.

University officials have expressed “concerns” about the establishment of a graduate student union. Providing an abundance of information sent out to graduate students and on the University website, they seem committed to making sure that students are well informed on the pros and cons of unionization. They also seem committed to support the election.

“We have received the petition for a union election filed on behalf of Princeton graduate students,” University Director of Media Relations Jennifer Morrill wrote in an April 23 email. “The University agrees that a secret ballot election is the most inclusive, fair, and secure method for those eligible to express their preference whether to be represented by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.”

She continued, echoing a February 2023 letter sent out from Graduate School Dean Rodney Priestley to graduate students, “It is important to note that by design, union representation would change some aspects of graduate students’ relationship with Princeton, and the University has concerns about how such representation would affect graduate students’ education and experience here.”

Morrill’s statement concluded, “Regardless of whether our graduate students are represented by a union, providing holistic support and an environment for all graduate students to thrive will remain a top priority for the University.”

Nair pointed out that the University, unlike some peer universities, has not strongly resisted the push to unionize. She applauded Princeton administrators’ efforts to encourage students to participate in the process and noted that the administration had held two town halls for graduate students to discuss the pros and cons of union membership.

“I don’t know if I would say that they’re very excited about a union,” she added. “The administration conversations have leaned towards students thinking twice about unionizing.”

Nair described some of the benefits she looks forward to with the establishment of a graduate student union. “One thing we hope unionizing will do is to make Princeton attractive to incoming graduate students in the way that students at other institutions have been able to win some control over their lives.”

Noting that graduate students teach many undergraduate students and also produce world class research that helps to make Princeton University what it is, Nair added, “We hope this union wins graduate students some protections that will make graduate work at Princeton better, which will have an impact on how comfortable we are, how effective we are, and what kind of research we can do.”

Earlier this spring postdoctoral workers at Princeton also filed for an NLRB election, which is scheduled to take place on May 8 and 9. The postdoctoral scholars are hoping to form the first academic union on campus, and Nair is hoping for an election soon after that to establish a graduate student union.