How to unionize?

February 7, 2006 9:40 PM

How to form or join a union?

Let's say you're a large (160+) group of graduate student teachers at a major university. Let's also say that you're not particularly pleased with some of the negative repercussions taken by your university, and you want to protect your benefits and get yourself a little bargaining power. How do you go about unionizing?
In particular:
What kind of legal issues need to be researched before unionizing?
What are the costs of organizing and joining a union?
Is there a critical mass of people necessary to join a union?
How do you go about finding a union that represents your interests?

Honestly, I don't know much about this issue at all, so there are probably about a million more questions that I don't even know to ask, so any and all help will be most appreciated.

posted by papakwanz to work & money (16 comments total)

Start at the National Labor Relations Board.
posted by mookieproof at 9:48 PM on February 7, 2006

Look up the Yale unions to see how insanely painful this can be.
posted by smackfu at 10:08 PM on February 7, 2006

Not to be a downer, but in today's climate, expect to get fired before your union ever gets off the ground.

Lots of union busting activity that I would have once thought was illegal is now considered completely kosher in America.
posted by teece at 10:20 PM on February 7, 2006

I would be very wary of losing your job, as mentioned already. I know in Canada, the CAW seems to have all KINDS of non-auto-worker members (since the union is the Canadian Auto Workers, it's a bit odd) so maybe contacting some unions in your area to see if they have similar policies?
posted by antifuse at 1:37 AM on February 8, 2006

Unionizing graduate students is often pretty difficult. There is a lot of strong resistance to it from administrations, and it's often hard to get sympathy from other non-graduate students because of various factors. I've been friends with people involved in the Cornell grad student union attempt (unsuccessful) and the Yale (messy). You can read a little bit about the history of US GSU organizations in this paper. That article contains links to the National Association of Graduate-Professional Student for information on graduate and professional student groups at all stages of development, and the Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions which has advice.

The short answer is that you need to get recognition from an existing union, have a vote among people that would be covered by that union, and deal with an unholy amount of hassle from people who don't want a union. In my opinion it's a worthwhile endeavor but you need to really be up for a long struggle to even think about making it happen.
posted by jessamyn at 4:39 AM on February 8, 2006

Here's another set of unionized grad students for you: the Graduate Employees' Association at the University of Michigan. You might contact them and ask for guidance.

(I feel like I should warn you, though, that when I was there the GEA was very unpopular among undergrads. Even at a lefty, politicized school like U of M, most students saw it as a conspiracy to cheat them out of more tuition money.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 4:40 AM on February 8, 2006

As I understand it, there has never been a successful unionization drive for graduate students at a University without a faculty union. (This came from a former leader of the Yale drive) I'd highly recommend talking to your faculty union representatives for input, you'll need them on your side.
posted by allen.spaulding at 4:44 AM on February 8, 2006

This is exactly what NYU's GAs have been doing this school year. I know it's not big news, but I thought all grad students in the US would've heard about it through the grapevine if not on the news. Now, they're not winning, and I don't think they're going to win, but they initially made a strong showing because they're affiliated with a big union -- Local Auto Workers 2110. This is the only reason they're still able to keep up the strike at all.

Please, please research this issue. I don't know where to link you, but you can Google, or go to NYU's paper's site. These NYU GAs were fighting exactly the same fight you want to. They did pretty much everything exactly right, but the administration refused to give in. Even with the strike fund (only provided through the big union, by the way), they still can't continue much longer.
posted by booksandlibretti at 6:35 AM on February 8, 2006

Call a labor union.

Don't start at the labor relations board. I don' t know how one would "start at the national labor relations board," or what that means.

You also won't need to research legal issues or worry about the costs of organizing. That's what already-established labor organizations are for. They've got legal departments to make sure you're on the best possible footing legally, and if they help you organize your workplace, the organizing will be paid for using money from the union's existing members' dues. Once you win your union, there will be a campaign to win a contract, and you typically don't have to pay dues until you win your contract. Your whole workplace will have to vote to approve the contract, so if people don't think it's more than worth the dues, they won't vote for it. But it will be worth it.

Once you have a contract, your dues go to pay to maintain and service your union, and also go to help other workers form their unions.

Is there a critical mass of people necessary to join a union?

To file for an election, 30% of the employees have to sign cards joining the union. But you need 50%+1 to win the election, so you usually won't want to file until you've signed up 60% or so. There is also a process called "card check" where you don't have to run an election, but you get the employer to agree to recognize the union once half the employees have joined. Again, this is something a union will explain to you and help you sort out, it's not something you need to worry about yet. Either way, you will have to talk to a lot of people you may not know yet about forming a union, and get your friends to talk to other people too.

How do you go about finding a union that represents your interests?

Well, your union will represent your interests because you will set the priorities for bargaining and a contract won't be valid unless you vote for it. But there are reasons to choose one local union over another, if there is more than one who would help you organize. Generally, you want to look at the track record of the union in winning improvements for people who do similar work to what you're doing, and look at how many members they have in your industry, both locally and nationwide. I would think that in Tucson your options are pretty limited, but check this page for a national list of graduate employee organizations and see what unions they're affiliated with. Call those unions, tell them where you are and what you want to do and see if they have local unions in your area.
posted by crabintheocean at 6:42 AM on February 8, 2006

Yeah, unionize grad students is about as easy as herding cats.
There's usually a handful of really pro-active people involved, and then a handful of anti-union students, and a majority who feel that they're leaving the university in a few years anyhow so they don't need to get involved.
DePaul University grad students tried to unionize, and it wasn't any kind of administration union-busting that failed the efforts - it was the apathy of the grad students.
Good luck - it's a worthy cause, but tough.
posted by itchi23 at 6:49 AM on February 8, 2006

Are you at a public or private university? If it's public, you will fall under state laws and may have some success eg Michigan, Wisconsin. If it's private, you'll have a much tougher time going through NLRB (see the NYU situation) unless the university decides to voluntarily recognize you (which is highly, highly unikely).

(Your faculty is not unionized if you are a private university, they may be unionized, and may be a good ally if you are a state university).

However, threatening to unionize may persuade the administration to accede to some of your demands.
posted by cushie at 7:01 AM on February 8, 2006

Be careful in picking the Union you decide to affliate with - not all unions are created equal. There are advantages to going with large unions, and advantages to going with smaller unions if it is the type that specializes in your type of business. Be wary of unions who focus on a different type of worker - for instance, I've dealt with unions who generally represent public employees in private employer situations, and the process is very slow and frustrating.

The process may be very slow and frustrating even if everyone involved is smart and willing to listen, but it won't be nearly as frustrating as if some of the people are stubborn and/or uninformed.

Also be aware that, after the union is voted in, but before there is a contract, it's possible for the employees to change their minds and provide withdrawl cards to the employer. This is another reason why it helps to have a greater than 50%+1 margin - you don't want one person to jump ship and cause it to sink.
posted by dpx.mfx at 7:02 AM on February 8, 2006

Another recently-formed graduate union you could ask for advice is the GEO at UIUC.
posted by MsMolly at 8:13 AM on February 8, 2006

Also watch your timing. If 25% of the eligible members are going to be leaving at the end of this semester you may want to hold off signing people up until the fall. You don't want to have 65% membership drop to 48% because all your senior people have left.
posted by Mitheral at 8:42 AM on February 8, 2006

Is there already a union at your school somewhere? Mostly likely the clerical staff, or even janitors. Find out what local they belong to. Probably an SEIU or AFSCME.
posted by rschroed at 11:02 AM on February 8, 2006

I would stay away from the NLRB -- these days (and this is not snark) it's probably staffed with 24-year-old UT dropouts with Cato Institute talking points to tell you how your interesting in unionization is going to help the terrorists win interfere with free trade.
posted by dhartung at 11:09 PM on February 8, 2006