Union Organizing on College Campuses Explodes

Union organizing on college campuses has exploded over the past year since the NLRB changed the law prohibiting students from joining unions. I represent a few universities, so this topic fascinates me.

One theory for organizing is that graduate students have assumed the brunt of teaching and research responsibilities compared to tenured faculty.

It’s a lot cheaper to employ graduate students than faculty (who are usually in their own union). I see the same argument for non-tenure track faculty doing a lot more, as well.

In my opinion, though, a lot of the organizing is run-of-the-mill ideology from predominantly Gen Z students: they believe they should have a say in how the university operates.

Vanderbilt University’s union chair, Alex Korsunsky, helps me make my point when he said this about how Vandy responded to Covid:

“Aside from these basic concerns…the administration did not take input from grads – or faculty, for that matter, or staff. They didn’t really consult anyone, and their decisions were seen as having very little legitimacy.”

According to him, and other student employee unions, if the students were not part of the decision-making process, the decision is illegitimate.

This mindset is not limited to academia. I see it in manufacturing, transportation, health care, grocery, and other industries of my clients. Owners, managers, boards, trustees, etc. are, according to Gen Z, unqualified to run the company.

Yet Gen Z believes they are qualified to make corporate decisions with barely any work experience – especially graduate students who are still students and not responsible for profit and loss statements, allocation of resources, generating revenue, etc.

Higher ed is organizing at a fervent pace.
·       Johns Hopkins – 97% of students voted yes to unionize
·       Yale University – 91% voted yes.
·       Northwestern – 94% voted yes.
·       Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fordham University, and Clark University also overwhelmingly voted yes.

I wonder if the rampant union organizing and landslide elections at universities foreshadow increased labor organizing for years to come by the same people once they graduate and enter corporate America?