Graduate Students At PSU Approve Union

Penn State graduate student employees have overwhelmingly voted to unionize, and are now seeking their first-ever contract.  The Coalition of Graduate Employees–UAW, representing nearly 5,000 graduate student workers, announced that 90% of voters favored unionization during the late October election.  The successful vote followed more than a decade of organizing efforts sparked by an unexpected increase in graduate employee health insurance premiums in 2014.  Following certification by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, the new union will prepare for collective bargaining with Penn State.