PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A rally in support of University of Pennsylvania student workers crowded the lawn in front of Van Pelt Library on Wednesday afternoon.
Research student employees and doctoral, graduate and undergraduate student workers are joining an effort to unionize. The union has been named GETUP-UAW — or Graduate Employees Together at the University of Pennsylvania, affiliated with the United Auto Workers.
Organizers say they’re in the middle of their card campaign to gather and gauge interest level among potential members.
“We have over 1,900 cards from student workers at the University of Pennsylvania, including the majority, around 3,400 doctoral students at Penn,” said Luella Allen-Waller, a field coordinator and organizer. “We're just so stoked to be here and call on Penn to voluntarily recognize our union.”
Jordan Williams, a pharmacology doctoral student and organizer for the union, said the student workers are fighting for better working conditions — “whether that’s stipend increases to combat cost of living and inflation; better health care (specifically focusing on improving our dental, vision, and mental health care); better parental leave and child care practices, and also protections for our international students as well.”
Unionization efforts have been spreading locally among collegiate settings, including Temple University, Rutgers University, Penn Medicine, and University of the Arts.
“It feels really good to ride that wave,” said Allen-Waller. “I think that, together, across universities, as well as together within universities, the solidarity that we build can make much greater gain.”
In response to calls for University of Pennsylvania to voluntarily recognize GETUP-UAW, a university spokesperson released the following statement:
Earlier this week, a group of Penn graduate students announced a campaign to form a union affiliated with the United Auto Workers. Penn is proud of its collaborative culture and the many ways in which the University and its graduate students jointly address student concerns and enhance the academic experience. An example of this is the largest one-time increase in Penn history to doctoral students’ minimum stipends, which was communicated last fall. We believe that our graduate students’ interests are best served by our commitment to collaboration and sitting at the table together. We encourage students to learn as much as they can about what unionization might mean for them.
Related
Related
