Unions of Student Workers are a force for reproductive justice
Read the rest of this series here. Students fill a unique role in campus employment. On top of pursuing an education, they often take jobs as research or teaching assistants, resident assistants, or tour guides, all of which help universities function.
These roles benefit students by helping them get hands-on experience, and professors by getting extra help in the classroom to better allocate their own time. All the while, university administrators benefit from being able to offer low wages and minimal benefits to qualified and capable students because they often work semester-by-semester.
While these students do often receive tuition waivers, not every graduate program covers tuition, and may not cover graduate program fees forcing students to pay out of pocket or take on loans to cover them. Student workers are still required to pay for food, housing, and other necessities, including childcare for parent student workers. Their wages barely cover these costs. Student workers who are subjected to academic bullying face the possibility of losing their funding and positions, while international students also risk having their visas cancelled. Since 2012, the number of unionized graduate student workers has increased by 133 percent. And since 2022, 45,000 student workers have joined a union. Health insurance can help students to work better
Emily via, a doctoral student in sociology at the University of Illinois Chicago, and the lead negotiator of GEO Local 62997, explained that they are concerned about access to contraception because an unplanned pregnancies would be “catastrophic”. “Abortion is great and amazing, but I would have complex feelings about it,” said the student. Samore, a University of Pennsylvania student worker and doctoral candidate, said, “I need gender affirming care to function on the most basic of levels.” “It allows me to put my personal life in the background in the ways I need to when I’m doing my work for Penn or working on my studies as a student.”
Both Samore and Via said members of their respective unions were vocal about needing health insurance coverage for reproductive health and gender-affirming care needs, and both were of direct interest for their bargaining.
Both noted an issue with how their health insurance’s limited provider network impacts their members’ ability to seek gender-affirming care. Many people face long waitlists, sometimes up to a year, for services like facial feminization, hormone therapy and other treatments. Some students may have graduated or be nearing graduation by the time they can access these services. Given this lack of access, one of these unions’ bargaining priorities will be to expand their in-network provider lists.
Negotiating with universities
During the collective bargaining process, student workers and their union representatives negotiate directly with university administrators, which can include staff whose job is to work with labor representatives. Board members can also negotiate with unions. The selection of board members varies according to the type of institution. The board members of public institutions are usually political appointees chosen by the governor or state legislature. Private institutions often select their boards by alumni or existing board members. Boards at private institutions are often selected by alumni or existing board members.
Samore pointed out that even though private university board members and trustees may seem immune to political influence, the people who make up the boards have strong political alignments, and their interests may be different than those of students.
“I trust my union to have my back,” Samore said. Samore said, “I trust my union to have my back.” I don’t believe they will have my back. As much as we can, you know, take power from those people and put it in the hands of workers and students, that is what will protect people at Penn who need gender-affirming care or reproductive care.”
Collective bargaining in practice
Finding the right people for bargaining can be a difficult process for newer unions.
GETUP-AUW members at the University of Pennsylvania are currently negotiating their first contract after a successful unionization election in May 2024. Samore says that one of their biggest problems is finding the right people in the right place at the right moment. If this is not done, the National Labor Review Board may intervene at a cost. The union can file a charge of unfair labor practices if the employer declares an impasse. At that point, the NLRB will examine the circumstances to determine if a standoff actually occurred. Some university administrators use tactics to stall progress because they know once an impasse has been declared, the administrators can implement the last offer made to the union, which may not be in a union’s favor.
Across the country in Tucson, Arizona, Miranda Lopez, a master’s candidate at the University of Arizona and UCWAZ Local 7065 treasurer, said some state university administrators were more receptive to some types of health care than others.
“Reproductive health care is something we’ve talked about with the Board of Regents,” Lopez said. They say that it should be possible, but there are situations where the university does not have an abortion provider. “But at this point, they’re cutting the funding every year so you might as well piss them off and go for it anyways.” “But at this point, they’re cutting the funding every year so you might as well piss them off and go for it anyways.”
Despite this, Lopez pointed out that there are some hopeful changes because of the union’s collective efforts, including showing up to Board of Regents meetings.
Compared to prior years, Lopez explained, the Board of Regents have proactively asked for money from the legislature rather than taking a passive, “wait-and-see” approach.
As a result, Lopez said, the board has taken a more proactive approach to securing funding from the state legislature, which ultimately aids in union negotiations.
Preparing for a second Trump administration
As graduate student workers across the country negotiate with their administrations, an already tough task in good circumstances, the advent of a second Trump administration also brings up another threat to graduate worker unions and collective bargaining rights. The advent of a second Trump administration will also bring up another threat to graduate worker unions and collective bargaining rights. Since the results of the 2024 elections, this has increased. Via said that even though contract negotiations with GEO won’t begin until spring, they had to take into consideration that Illinois might not always be the safest place for reproductive health care and gender affirming care. The university could revoke coverage of these services in its on-campus clinic, or switch to a private plan that does not cover them. Via said that their union lawyer also recommended a Project 2025 Reading Group. They explained though it was a grueling task, it provided them with potential strategies and considerations for contractual safeguards.
“It’s easy to hear Trump is getting re-elected and panic, but then we need to sit down and plan on the wording they may use, anticipate, and how do we craft something future-proof against that type of policy,” Via said. Being from Florida and South, I don’t take anything for granted. Illinois seems safe now and probably will be for the foreseeable future, but being a blue state doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about losing access.”
Samore said GETUP-AUW’s short-term strategy for responding to the second Trump administration is to first win a “good contract as fast as possible.” Longer-term, however, the union has been coalition-building and organizing within departments and across campus.
“One thing that gives me hope is that the academic labor movement is in a different place compared to 2017,” Samore said. It will be harder to stop labor organizing now than in 2016 or 2017″ Lopez stated that although UCWAZ is not the largest union, it has had a significant impact on the three
institutions over the past few years. “I didn’t expect us to have such an impact and I’m eager to see what our future holds.”
