UVM grad students are going to unionize, and the university is going to have to come to grips with that. It always surprises me that organizations of all kinds take on fights that they can’t win, instead of accepting the inevitable and using this acceptance to portray themselves in a positive light. Really stupid, and one would think that the educated folks at a university would know better!
https://vtdigger.org/2023/11/06/as-grad-students-work-to-unionize-uvm-tries-to-dissuade-them/
Life will go on for UVM if there’s a union and they know it. If you’re a grad student, do this.
As a current grad student I didn’t even know this was happening. I fully support it and plan to look into how to join.
From what it seems to me, UVM is trying to paint a picture of grad student abuse as part of the educational process. Meanwhile we are the ones conducting much of the research being put out; we are the ones busting our asses in classes while writing our theses/dissertations and teaching undergrads for barely above minimum wage all while paying an exorbitant amount of money in tuition that leaves us with little grocery or childcare money after we pay our rents.
Yet we can’t get even the smallest support from UVM admin in changing these circumstances because what? It’s all part of the educational experience, my ass.
Any time the boss tries to dissuade workers from unionizing, it’s a sure sign that you REALLY need a union. Good luck to the students.
UVM has such a glaring labor problem. The labor disputes that are currently active are piling up, and UVM always makes a fool of themselves in their “bargaining” with their employees. They will be made a fool again.
Their anti-union rhetoric on this was just laughable:
“UVM believes the graduate student relationship is primarily and predominantly an educational and mentoring relationship. While some students receive academic appointments in the form of stipended assistantships that help defray the costs associated with graduate education, the primary purpose of these positions is to help students make steady progress toward their graduate degrees while they gain valuable professional experience in preparation for impactful careers in academia, government, industry, or the non-profit sector. This is unlike any employment relationship, and the inherently individualized approach to graduate education does not lend itself well to a “one-size-fits-all” collective bargaining approach.”
“UVM believes a robust shared governance approach, relying heavily on the relationship between the Graduate College and Graduate Student Senate, provides the best possible model for addressing graduate student issues. Such a model is not constrained by legalistic and technical provisos and instead enables a flexible, holistic response to issues impacting graduate studies. The new leaders of the Graduate College and Graduate Student Senate are committed to these efforts now more than ever.”
“A union card is more than just a general show of support: it carries long-range implications for students, both current and future, and for the university. Just as with any important decision, students should learn as much as they can before deciding on a shared governance versus a union approach.”
Graduate Student Senate, shared governance, LMAO. This is such weak sauce! Just imagine if the university actually cared about it’s student workers being anything beyond a cheap labor discount.
It’s a disgrace, and coming from UVM, it’s no longer a surprise.
Don’t know about you folks but I am SHOCKED
Grad student friend of mine went thru literal hell bc of a shit advisor and no structural support. Go union go!
Isn’t Graduate Education…an education? And once you graduate and complete the program, then you go on to earn a living (at an assumingly higher rate because of the graduate degree?). Part of the costs associated with going to college is living expenses. If someone saved $$ for college, or got a loan, then that $$ was used towards everyday living expenses. If someone didn’t have enough, then they worked on campus or got a job off campus. Is the argument by grad students that they are not making enough $$ through the on campus jobs available to them? I’m genuinely curious to understand the stance here because I’ve never heard of this before and would like to be informed.
Not all grad student unionization drives succeed. The proportion of workers in the U.S. represented by a union is tiny and shrinking. So in general, odds against union drives are good.
Patty Prelock is a piece of shit.
I agree that what the grad students are put through isn’t right. And they should definitely be earning more than just a few pennies to rub together to create warmth.
But I mean, isn’t that how graduate programs have always been? It’s a shared form of hazing for the ones going through it. With the goal of being prepared for the career on the other side.
Not saying UVM is wrong here. But maybe the whole system needs to be adjusted everywhere instead?
Did you get the chance to sign a Union card? I’m assuming not. I’m part of the union organizing committee and happy to talk about it as best I can!
I remember they sold off a bunch of grad student housing a number of years back without much warning, and reading in the news how a number of affected people had come to UVM specifically because there was grad student housing.
I get this in concept - but I’ve never heard of an employer doing anything but this. They might voluntarily recognize them but no employer I’ve ever heard of would encourage a union. Any examples, out of curiosity?
UVM Med has a lot of issues too.
That second paragraph should be interpreted as “nothing about a student senate requires us to listen to you, and you can’t legally force us to do so”. As someone on a UVM Greek alumni board I can assure you the proposal of shared governance in the form of a Senate is window dressing. You’ll be kept busy with meetings, hearings, votes, etc but ultimately UVM will do whatever they want and act in it’s own self interest, waiving you off like a pest in the process. You teach their classes, do their research, and subsequently line their pockets. Anything less than an ability to cause tangible repercussions in a dispute is inadiquate.
I wonder if UVM leadership takes any comfort in the fact that many other universities are equally culpable of grad student abuse? What a shame, and another ill-afforded hit to an already sorry reputation. How hard can it be to find strong, ethical leaders in academia? Maybe having abused one’s grad students as a professor is a prerequisite?
In a lot of cases your program essentially requires you to do those on-campus assistantships.
Not every graduate student is a graduate student worker, only the graduate students that are employed in academic positions are a part of the union. People going to business school or something like that just do their classes and get their degrees and there’s not any part of the program where they’re required to work for the school so they pay for their credits, those are not the students that are part of this bargaining.
However in general, science degrees and other research based degrees have an assistantship portion of the program that’s is required where we do research or teach and are employees of the university. Everyone’s funding package is different but for example in mine the organization supporting my research pays my tuition. UVM gets to use my intellectual property when I publish papers, and they pay me a stipend to be a researcher for them.
So basically it’s complicated and different for everyone but the university treats us as employees when it’s convient for them and as students when we remind them that we need things like robust health insurance.