A Letter To Faculty Regarding the Graduate Student Union’s Escalating Contract Fight

Dear Cornell Faculty:

In November 2023, Cornell graduate workers voted to form our union with a 96% supermajority. Together we empower ourselves to pursue world-class teaching and research without undue barriers. At a time when higher education is under threat, we stand united with our coworkers to fight for protections and benefits that all academic workers deserve and will support us as we build an academia in pursuit of scholarly excellence and innovation. A strong union contract upheld by a strong union is the most efficient way to achieve this goal.

We began bargaining our first contract in March 2024. In the months that have followed, we have made significant progress at the bargaining table, coming to numerous tentative agreements on issues such as Health and Safety, and International Worker Rights. We are eager to work with the administration to finish negotiations quickly. On January 8th, we reached a key threshold, having signed 21 tentative agreements covering all but three key non-economic issues. In the same session, we also presented our economic proposals to the University, which include fair wage raises, improved healthcare access with dental and vision care, financial support for international graduate workers, and access to transit & parking facilities. Our proposals will bring protections and benefits on par with those already available to thousands of unionized graduate workers across the country, and provide an admissions package that is competitive with other unionized Ivy+ institutions.

Despite this progress and a strong record of collaboration, we have recently noticed a significant shift in the attitude of the Cornell administration. This deterioration was evident at the start of our bargaining session on January 22nd, when the administration proposed substandard counters on fundamental protections including Union Security. When drafting counter proposals, Cornell often looks to peer institutions and other Cornell union contracts to see what standards exist. It was therefore surprising to hear the administration’s opposition to our Union Security proposal called Union Shop, which is the industry standard. While the administration was willing to agree to a fair share Union Shop article for the Weill Cornell Medicine Postdocs last May, they remain unwilling to do so with us. Additionally, the administration’s decision to cancel our February 4th bargaining session at the last minute – without offering any counters on our economic proposals or Union Shop and halting all progress toward a fair contract – is highly concerning.

When we settle our union contract, it will dictate the terms and conditions of work for all graduate workers in the bargaining unit (TAs, RAs, GAs, and GRAs). Individual workers cannot opt out of our contract. However, only union members have the right to participate in the democratic decision-making of the union. Union Shop or universal membership is a contract provision rooted in the shared-governance model that ensures that every graduate worker whose working conditions are determined by our contract has a democratic voice in union decision-making. All graduate workers will receive the protections and benefits we win in our contract. Universal membership through Union Shop is the only way to ensure that all graduate workers who are impacted by our contract will have equal power to vote for our shared future and will contribute their fair share to our collective benefits as a condition of their employment.

Union Shop is common and practical. Every strong union has universal membership via Union Shop. Graduate worker unions at several Ivy+ institutions, including MIT, Northwestern, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Dartmouth, and the University of Chicago all have variations of Union Shop. All other union contracts at Cornell, including the Weill Cornell Medicine Postdocs Union, have Union Shop clauses (UAW 2300, Teamsters 317, BTC Maintenance Division, CWA, CPU, IUOE 158S, and SPFPA 502). In contrast, the administration’s position on Union Security for graduate workers at Cornell falls well short of industry standard and is out of place at a University where all other unions have Union Shop.

Nevertheless, we remain committed to a spirit of collaboration at the table and to settling a contract that meets industry standard and graduate workers’ needs quickly. We are disappointed by signals that the Cornell administration does not share our commitment to resolving this contract and hope they will prioritize a fair and timely resolution.

As scientists and scholars, we are tasked with solving the pressing issues of our generation, including those in climate change, reproductive rights, and public health. With freezes on NIH grant reviews and recent attempts to freeze all federal grants, many researchers are uncertain about the future of their work, and, for international workers, their ability to stay in the country. Attacks on science and higher education are likely to continue under the new administration. A strong union that protects graduate workers will only help the University weather these challenges.

Our goal is to position graduate workers for success – to support them in producing the high quality research the university relies on for its prestige. Despite the uncertain political future, we want to fortify Cornell as an academic institution that can attract top quality talent, support them while they're here, and prepare them for a future as leaders in their fields. Faculty and graduate workers have the same goals: protect us in our jobs so we can continue to do good work. We must stand united in our defense of our academic futures and the integrity of our University.

For graduate workers at Cornell – like thousands of other unionized graduate workers across the country– this starts with universal membership in our union. Existing successful professional relationships between faculty, students, and graduate workers at Cornell will not be negatively affected by graduate workers in more precarious situations getting the support they need. We as graduate workers are directing our efforts at the Cornell administration, who have an opportunity to rise to the standards set by peer institutions and existing Cornell Union contracts.

After nearly a year of bargaining and collaboration on 21 tentative agreements, the Cornell administration can choose to prioritize the future of our industry and of graduate workers, or continue to be outpaced by peer institutions and force an escalation towards a research and teaching strike on campus.

CGSU-UE Bargaining Committee