STATE COLLEGE — A newly formed union representing thousands of graduate students at Penn State hopes to bargain for a first of its kind contract following a successful authorization vote in late October.

According to the Coalition of Graduate Employees At Penn State, 90% of the 2,080 total graduate students who participated in the Oct. 27-29 vote cast ballots in favor of formally unionizing.

The union will represent nearly 5,000 masters’ and doctoral degree candidates who work in teaching or research positions across the university, which enrolls about 11,800 total graduate students at both University Park and Commonwealth campuses.

The successful vote was the result of more than a decade of work by a dedicated group of student organizers who formed the fledgling coalition in 2014 following an unexpected increase in health insurance premiums for graduate employees.

That prompted a group of graduate students to begin advocating for unionization for better wages, benefits and a say in university decisions.

The coalition launched its first formal unionization drive in 2017 that ultimately failed in a three-to-two vote against unionization a year later following a drawn out arbitration process with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and Penn State over the status of graduate workers that, while ruled in favor of the coalition, disrupted their efforts.

During that first unionization effort, “Penn State management (spent) millions of dollars on a disinformation campaign, specifically targeting STEM and international students with lies and veiled threats,” according to the coalition’s website.

The coalition regrouped in 2021-22, voting to affiliate with the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, commonly known as UAW for their institutional “support and guidance,” according to coalition organizer Dia Brown.

Brown, an architectural engineering doctoral candidate, said that improving graduate worker pay to keep up with the high cost of living in the State College area is a top priority for the coalition, alongside a new “collective voice” in decisions made by university administration.

According to Brown, the university recently updated its policy regarding maternal and parental leave for graduate employees, but did so without meaningfully consulting said employees while writing the revised standard.

Substantively involving graduate workers in the decision making process for matters that directly impact their livelihoods has been a “consistent ask” for the coalition, Brown said.

Negotiating these decisions through a union bargaining process where the “collective voice” of affected workers is a more fair process than the university arbitrarily handing down unilaterally made decisions, they said.

The coalition restarted the unionization effort with a renewed focus on social media communications and reaching out to graduate workers in different departments, Brown said.

That allowed the coalition to maintain the “momentum” that had faltered in 2018, leading to the initial unsuccessful vote.

More than 80 Pennsylvania state representatives and senators delivered a letter to Penn State administrators urging them to respect the results of the election in the lead up to the vote following a day of lobbying in Harrisburg, according to the coalition’s website.

According to Brown, assuming Penn State voluntarily recognizes the new union, the next step will be to form a bargaining committee elected by union members to proceed with negotiating a contract.

The coalition is currently circulating a survey among members asking for input on what demands they should prioritize during contract negotiations, Brown said.

Brown said that Penn State administration has not formally recognized the union nor contacted the leadership since the election as of Friday afternoon, leaving it an open question whether further Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board intervention will be necessary.

Whatever the future holds, Brown said that coalition members feel “excited” and optimistic following the successful vote, and are looking forward to building a strong union that can represent graduate workers for years to come.

Penn State did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this story.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.