After more than a year of legal delays, graduate employees at the University of New Mexico finally won certification after that state’s Public Employee Labor Relations Board verified in December that a solid majority of the 1,547 bargaining unit employees had signed union cards indicating support for UE. This means that the UNM administration is legally obligated to bargain with newly-chartered UE Local 1466/United Graduate Workers. The victory — UE’s largest organizing win in 25 years — comes after a hard-fought campaign to push back against the university’s continued attempts to delay meeting UE at the bargaining table.
UNM graduate workers teach over 500 classes attended by thousands of undergraduate students each semester, and the research they perform contributes to UNM’s status as an “R1,” or first-rank research university. Despite the critical work they perform, graduate workers at UNM earn an average minimum stipend of just $14,438 per year and struggle with lack of access to medical care and inadequate protections from harassment. They began organizing with UE in the spring of 2020, and filed for recognition in December of 2020 after signing up a supermajority of graduate workers as UE members.
The university administration objected to the filing, claiming that graduate workers are students, not workers, and therefore do not have the right to collective bargaining. Surprisingly, the board agent who first heard the case last spring ruled in the administration’s favor. (In virtually every other state in the country that allows collective bargaining in the public sector, labor boards have ruled that graduate workers are, indeed, workers.)
While UE appealed the decision to the full board, the union also began laying plans to win recognition through direct action. New Mexico’s public-employee labor law prohibits strikes — but as the union pointed out, if graduate workers are not covered by the law, they are free to withhold their labor (or, as the university would have it, their studenting). The local established a steward system and began organizing for job actions in the fall.
The Public Employee Labor Relations Board got the message, ruling in UE’s favor on August 17.
Hundreds Rally
On September 3, at the beginning of the fall semester, hundreds of graduate workers, joined by faculty, undergraduate student leaders and community supporters, rallied to call on the administration to respect the board’s ruling and commit to negotiations as soon as possible.
“We know graduate workers and the students we teach can’t afford any more stall tactics or delays from the UNM administration,” said Emma Minks, a teaching assistant in the English department. “We’re relieved that the state labor board finally ruled that graduate employees have the right to collectively bargain in New Mexico. Now it's time for the UNM administration to commit to respecting this decision and beginning contract negotiations as soon as possible.”
“When graduate workers are overworked and underpaid it has a negative effect on our students,” Minks continued. “I love my students and I care about how they learn. We can't afford to continue to deny our undergraduates the full education they are paying for.”
The university administration, however, continued its taxpayer-funded appeals through the court system.
Undeterred, Local 1466/UGW proceeded to elect a negotiating committee. They also built relationships with political leaders, undergraduate and community organizations, and other unions on campus. On December 3, the UNM/UNMH Coalition of Unions, which brings together eight unions at UNM and the University of New Mexico Hospital, held a rally to demand that the administration begin negotiations with UE and bargain a livable wage for custodial workers, members of CWA Local 7076.
“The university works because graduate workers do”
On the morning of December 7, members of Local 1466/UGW entered Scholes Hall, location of the UNM President and Regents' offices, to stage a “work-in” to demand that the university drop its legal appeals.
“I am here today because I am disappointed that the UNM administration continues to devalue my work as a graduate employee,” said UNM Teaching Assistant Alana Bock. “I grade papers, lesson-plan, and hold office hours for my students. I love teaching but it is disheartening to see the university continue to sink resources into fighting graduate workers who want to be paid a living wage for doing the important work of educating our undergraduate Lobos.”
“With this work-in, we hope that the UNM administration will see what we already know — that this university works because graduate workers do,” said UNM Teaching Assistant Lindsay Morrone. “The Regents say that they value our role on campus, but their repeated attempts to circumvent state law do not reflect this. If they really valued our labor, they would withdraw this appeal and meet our union at the bargaining table.”
Union, Community Demand Bargaining
The Public Employee Labor Relations Board finally counted the cards on December 17, and formally certified Local 1466/UGW on January 4. On January 26, the union held a “community demand to bargain,” with representatives of Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury and the community organizations Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) and OLÉ New Mexico.
“As a former graduate student worker myself, I know firsthand the essential role that grad workers play in educating students, conducting research, and bringing talent, recognition, and resources to our universities,” said Rep. Stansbury in a statement. “As the daughter of proud union members, I also know the essential role that unions play in ensuring that workers get a fair shake. That’s why I am proud to stand in solidarity with the UNM grad workers in their efforts to organize and build a brighter future for the entire UNM community.”
UNM alum and SWOP organizer Alejandría Lyons called on UNM administrators to live up to their stated values. “I am from Los Lunas. I am not only the first graduate of UNM from my family, I was the first graduate student in my family” said Lyons. “If it wasn't for my community supporting me with other job opportunities I wouldn't have been able to make it through my higher education. UNM prides itself on being a Hispanic serving institution, and we have so many students from Pueblos and Indigenous communities. It's a shame that UNM has a social justice statement, but it continues to treat its workers without respect.”
“Graduate students have been an indispensable asset and are a crucial part of the day-to-day function, academic excellence, and Lobo culture that makes the University of New Mexico unique” said Jay Wilson, speaking on behalf of OLÉ New Mexico. "Despite the tumult of the last three years, these students have risen to the occasion consistently and given so much of themselves in return for a modicum of what they truly deserve.”
Although university administrators have so far not committed to a first session of negotiations, the local has elected a bargaining committee, along with chief stewards, and is currently undergoing bargaining training and preparing to draft proposals.