The union election for Penn's graduate student employees has been postponed indefinitely, just days before students were scheduled to head to the polls.
The election for Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania , which was scheduled for April 16 and 17, was postponed on April 11. The Notice of Election Postponement issued by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board did not give a reason for the sudden delay or provide a rescheduled election date.
"The NLRB will issue a new Notice of Election once it has set the new election date," a Penn spokesperson wrote to the DP. "Penn has been cooperating with the NLRB to identify a new election date this semester and encourages all students who are eligible to vote to learn as much as possible about this significant issue and to vote."
The postponement immediately followed a victory for GET-UP, as the organization won an appeal against the NLRB to include Educational Fellowship Recipients in the pool of eligible voters on April 10. It also comes amid continued clashes with the University as GET-UP tries to become certified as a union. Student workers filed over 3,000 authorization cards in 2023, but Penn refused to voluntarily recognize the union.
“Penn is now taking [the appeal] victory as an opportunity to attempt to delay our election even further,” fifth year pharmacology Ph.D. student and GET-UP organizer Kyla Mace told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “Penn is not telling the truth to us or to the regional NLRB.”
In a statement on their website, GET-UP criticized the university's "blatant anti-union" tactics.
“Because of our visible power, the university administration is using legal mechanisms to try to delay and demoralize us,” GET-UP wrote. “This is a blatant anti-union tactic and only further demonstrates that grad workers need an independent voice in our workplace through a union.”
Mace noted that the University gave a range of reasoning for postponing the election, including an inability to compile a new voter list in a timely manner and a lack of availability of campus spaces for the election itself, which had originally been set to take place in Bodek Lounge in Houston Hall.
“We're already delayed by all kinds of attempts to try to cut up our unit,” Mace said, adding that the organization is aiming to hold an election as soon as possible.
In response to the postponement, GET-UP -- in conjunction with the Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors, Penn Museum Workers United, and United RAsat Penn -- will hold a rally in support of graduate student workers’ fight to unionize on April 17. The rally will be part of a National Day of Action for Higher Education organized by over 80 higher education unions and student organizations nationwide.
“It is transparently an attempt to deny us the right to democracy in our workplace,” Mace told the DP. “Penn is scared of what the results of our election will be.”
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate
