WPI graduate students the latest seeking to unionize

WORCESTER — After rallying support for their unionization efforts on the sidewalk near Boynton Hall on the Worcester Polytechnic Institute campus Monday, members of the WPI Graduate Workers Union walked into the administration building to file their union recognition paperwork.

The group, which has been working with the United Auto Workers Region 9A the last two years, is looking to get, among other things, an increase in wages, improved health care coverage, and protection from harassment and bullying. 

"We've been waiting a long time. … It's really nice to look forward to the future," said Sabine Hahn, a fifth-year doctorate student and union organizer. "I look forward to having our union get officially certified … of course, moving towards an election."

WPI is the latest campus to have graduate student workers unionize, joining the ranks of nearby Clark University and other schools across the country. 

Hahn, who helped begin laying the groundwork in 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic started, said she became motivated after finding out that health coverage had been downgraded. 

Looking at other universities where students were already unionized, she saw how things were handled differently, such as at Brown University, where students received COVID-19 relief, she said. 

"Having a union gives us a voice to prioritize the changes on campus," Hahn said. "With a contract, we'd know the changes years in advance." 

She began speaking to more and more graduate student workers around campus, as well as the WPI chapter of the American Association of University Professors, which paired her up with its union representative.

John Sanbonmatsu, a WPI professor and president of WPI’s American Association of University Professors chapter, spoke in support of the graduate student workers union at Monday's rally. 

"Graduate students are seen but not heard, or even not seen and not heard," Sanbonmatsu said. "Now, today, you're making yourselves heard and that will never change. There's no going back." 

Hahn also began reaching out to other graduate student worker unions at other universities. 

"It was when we talked to Harvard (University) that we got a chance to talk with the UAW," Hahn said. "Ultimately, we really liked how they handled their union campaigns. Not only that, but the UAW is the largest, as far as academic unions, so they have a lot of power … having that power was essentially what we wanted to back us up." 

In April 2022, students began signing union authorization cards. After two weeks the group had 50% of the cards signed, and by week three had a supermajority, with 75% of cards signed. The group has amassed more than 500 members since then. 

Beverly Brakeman, director of the UAW Region 9A, which covers union workers from several industries in New England, New York and Puerto Rico, said during the rally that the union represents more than 70,000 student workers and more than 100,000 academic workers.

"Our hope is that the university remains neutral and doesn't run an anti-union campaign," Brakeman said. "The best we would ask of WPI is to be respectful of their process here and allow the workers to have a fair and democratic process of voting for their union, and then to sit down and bargain a fair contract."

Interim Provost Art Heinricher, who was present for the rally, released a statement Monday afternoon saying the university would acknowledge the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election process and work to collaborate to ensure they "follow their procedures in the spirit of collaboration.

"WPI graduate student workers are a vital part of our community, and we support their rights to organize and hold an election to decide whether they will be represented by a union," Heinricher said. "The university also acknowledges the NLRB election process as the most democratic method to determine voter preference, and we believe that all students who would be represented by the union should have the opportunity to participate in a secret ballot election conducted by the NLRB."