UChicago Grad Students Fought for a Union for 15 Years. Now They May Win It.
In August 2022, an emboldened GSU voted to affiliate with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), pointing to the UE’s emphasis on rank-and-file democracy and local autonomy, as well as its experience in supporting graduate student organizing. With the university administration continuing its refusal to voluntarily recognize the union, and with a friendlier NLRB in place, GSU officially filed for a union election, submitting more than 2,000 signed union cards to the labor board on November 30, 2022. The NLRB set the election for January 31 and February 1, 2023.
All this comes over five years after the first union election was stymied and over 15 years after GSU first formed. Graduate students hope the upcoming election can finally deliver the union recognition they’ve long sought, and with it, the right to bargain directly with their employer as workers whose labor — from teaching to grading to lab work — is at the core of the university’s daily functioning.