Vermont Business Magazine On Monday October 30, a union representing over 600 graduate student-workers at the University of Vermont in Burlington will file for a union election with the VLRB with majority support. Student workers will rally on the UVM campus on the Davis Green at 12 to celebrate this accomplishment and make their union demands known to the administration.
Their union is called Graduate Students United (GSU), and is affiliated through the United Auto Workers (UAW) and its Local 2322. Graduate student workers at UVM join thousands of other graduate student union members in the UAW.
Graduate student workers at UVM follow in the footsteps of other groups unionizing on the campus, including the faculty and staff, to assert that they deserve a seat at the bargaining table. Graduate students do essential work for the university that allows it to run. They do research, they teach classes, and they are a vital part of the university's goal to attain recognition as a top research university with R1 status.
However, the minimum stipends for graduate student workers do not meet a living wage, and by UVM’s own estimate, at least 1 in 5 graduate students are food insecure. GSU believes these issues can only be properly addressed at the bargaining table.
GSU-UAW 2322 will deliver a letter detailing their demands to the university on October 30. They are asking UVM to accept their proposed bargaining unit, meaning who will be allowed in the union, and urging UVM to remain neutral in a union election.
They will also inform the university of their broader union demands. These demands include a universal minimum stipend at a living wage, a robust grievance procedure, improved health benefits including dental and vision care, accessible childcare for working parents, and increased protections for international students. GSU is also organizing against excessive workloads exceeding contractual hours, to eliminate a mandatory “comprehensive fee” that graduate students must pay, and to address the housing crisis that is impacting student workers.
Multiple legislators have signed a letter to UVM that echoes the demands of GSU-UAW 2322 and this letter will also be delivered to the university on the day of the rally. Graduate student workers are hopeful that between their show of support from their membership, and the influence of state legislators, UVM will accept the union and meet them at the bargaining table.
Source: 10.25.2023. Burlington, Vermont, UAW 2322
