Duke graduate student unionization efforts lead to formal hearing with university and federal officials

Duke University graduate students are moving toward unionization after a ruling earlier this year said graduate students at private universities could be considered university employees.

Graduate students at Duke filed a petition for unionization on Nov. 10.

Michael Schoenfeld, spokesperson for Duke University, said university and graduate student representatives will attend a hearing today with the National Labor Relations Board to decide the terms of such a unionization effort.

Schoenfeld said Monday’s hearing will be important to determine if an election to unionize is warranted, who will be eligible to vote in such an election and potential dates for the election.

Schoenfeld said campus conversation regarding unionization has been largely productive, but the debate has occasionally gotten out of hand.

A statement emailed from Paula D. McClain, dean of Duke’s graduate school, to graduate students mentioned reports that anti-union flyers had been torn down and international students had been threatened with loss of their immigration status if they voted against the union.

In the statement, McClain said she does not support a graduate student union but respects students’ opinions.

“What concerns me is that the environment on campus has become increasingly adversarial even before a union election is held,” she said. “I would like to encourage everyone to respect each other’s right to express ideas from all perspectives.”

Jenna Robinson, president of The John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, said union movements generally form because of low graduate student pay.

Shahrazad Shareef, a Duke doctoral candidate and member of the organizing committee for the Duke Graduate Students Union, said she has heard about exploitative work experiences from fellow graduate students.

She said she is pleased to see support for unionization from undergraduate groups, faculty and off-campus community organizations.

“People are so, so excited and you can really see it when you come to our rallies and when you see us chanting,” she said. “There is just so much joy in that power.”

Shareef said keeping graduate school tuition manageable after program funding is depleted, reducing fees, maintaining dental benefits and increasing pay for teaching assistants are issues they hope to address.

“At a broad level, we are interested in being at the table when decisions are made,” she said. “That is not just a protest. That is in order to ensure that we can keep the things we like.”

Robinson said unionization will have tradeoffs and some students may not benefit from unionizing because they might already have higher pay and benefits than their peers.

She said unionization could prevent universities from recruiting in-demand graduate students who are pursuing higher-paying positions and specialized degrees.

“Even at Duke University, the resources are finite,” she said. “So, if the graduate student pay is increased, where is that money coming from?”

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