Building Student Worker Solidarity
UAWD Priority resolution for
the 2023 Bargaining Convention
Resolution to Build Student Worker Solidarity
Inclusive Units, Wall-to-Wall Unions, and a Strong Sectoral Strategy
As more and more student-workers unionize with the UAW, universities are finding ways to divide our units—like the recent NLRB Region 1 decision that poses an urgent threat to higher ed workers.
The UAW cannot take the passive stance that it took in face of the emergence of auto tiers. We need a coordinated strategy for this fast growing sector.
Update: This resolution was passed at the 2023 Bargaining Convention on Wednesday, March 29.
Background
- For decades, universities have increasingly replaced the labor traditionally fulfilled by faculty with the labor of student workers (SW).
- By arguing that SW are students, not workers, Universities have tried to obscure the fact that SW are working for Universities in exchange for much less benefits and little to no contract protections.
- SW teach and grade courses, perform research in laboratories. Non-academic SW work at residence halls, campus stores and dining halls, and perform other kinds of administrative labor within Universities.
- The UAW has been a pioneer in organizing academic workers, including SWs. Academic workers in the UAW—more than 60,000 strong—are now the fastest-growing segment of our union. Yet, SWs believe their collective power suffers due to lack of strategic and material support from the UAW.
- The UAW’s SW strategy must include a new, well-integrated approach to organizing that doesn’t concede to any of the management’s tactics aimed at undermining our collective power – tactics at eroding the size of units and creating divisions amongst workers that are all-too-familiar in other sectors, such as Auto.
- Keys to this strategy: inclusive bargaining units, the formation of units encompassing other categories of university workers (“wall-to-wall” unions) and a well-resourced sectoral bargaining approach that is aligned from Solidarity House to all UAW Regions.
Opposition from the Administration Caucus
- AC leadership has historically under-served the academic sector and student workers in particular, even as SWs have succeeded in landmark organizing campaigns and won strong contracts.
- The AC has further under-performed in building on successes in the academic sector and promoting cross-workplace and cross-sector alliances and coalitions of UAW workers to support student workers in job actions, including strikes.
- The AC has instead settled on piecemeal and isolated organizing on university campuses instead of investing in the sectoral bargaining strategies that are now embedded in other UAW bargaining campaigns, such as the Big 3 Master Agreement.
Why student worker solidarity matters
- Faced with the challenge of an increasing level of workplace organization in Universities, Universities have continued their efforts to keep the majority of their workforce unorganized and non-unionized through other means: by creating arbitrary titles and distinctions to carve student workers out of their bargaining units.
- The UAW cannot take the passive stance that it took in face of the emergence of a tiers. We cannot just react to these management carve-outs, but need to adopt an aggressive sectoral strategy that clearly defines the scope of the SW units based on job duties over any arbitrary classification created by the Employer, such as the title they are given, the degree they are pursuing, the number of hours they work, and the source of their funding, such as external fellowships or University endowment.
- The UAW can promote cross-sector collaboration and the organizing of various categories of workers on the same campus or in the same university system. A university facing “wall to wall” unions—including SWs, adjunct and contract instructors, office and service workers, and others—would be incentivized to bargain productively. An inclusive definition of SW units is directly tied to our ability to win strong contracts.
Draft Resolution
First Draft Resolution
Whereas, student workers require protections based on the labor they perform rather than:
- The job title provided to them by their employer (e.g. Teaching Assistant, Grader, Research Fellow, etc.);
- The degree they are pursuing (e.g. PhD, BA, MA, JD, etc.);
- The number of hours they work per week;
- The source of their position’s funding (e.g. stipend, external/internal fellowship, their principal investigator’s research grants, etc.).
Whereas, universities often aim to divide the student workforce by arguing that workers are not legitimate workers and do not deserve protections, on the basis of their title, degree, hours, funding, or any intersection of these distinctions. At the core of universities’ false claims about union representation not being appropriate for some workers who happen to be students is a material interest in eroding our unions’ membership and undermining coalitions of workers.
Whereas, workers can realize greater collective power through solidarity among all workers who perform the same types of labor for the same employer, and who therefore both have a stake in shared demands and could play an integral role in labor actions.
Whereas, workers who are paid hourly, funded externally, non-PhD, etc. are disproportionately at risk of exclusion attempts by management. An inclusive definition of student-worker Units will bolster collective power and prevent the future exclusion of in-Unit workers.
Whereas, beyond individual Units, establishing a strong basis for sectoral bargaining and democratically developing cross-Unit and cross-workplace strategy, including through alignment of contract expirations, will strengthen the bargaining power of members and Locals to win a COLA, protections against harassment and discrimination, and other key demands.
Therefore be it resolved, that the UAW will adopt a sectoral bargaining strategy that prioritizes defining the scope of the Unit protected by the Agreement (commonly found in the Agreement’s Recognition article) based on job duties rather than by title, degree, hours, or funding. In particular, the scope should include at least all instructors and researchers enrolled as students.
Be it further resolved, that it has been effective in bargaining collective student worker demands to also include other categories of workers, beyond instructors and researchers, within the scope of the Unit protected by the Agreement. The scope should thus further include any other categories of workers that are strategic to the context of the workplace or actively organizing within the unionization campaign.
Be it further resolved, that to prevent unit erosion and enable unit expansion during bargaining, the UAW will adopt a parallel strategy in all Representation Election (RC) and Unit Clarification (UC) Petitions, to define the scope of the Unit based on job duties rather than title, degree, hours, or funding. The UAW will support members and Locals in proactively filing UC Petitions, as has been done recently by the Student Workers of Columbia at Local 2710.
Be it further resolved, that this new sectoral strategy will be carried out through the following:
- New student-worker organizing campaigns will begin with a survey of the categories of work performed by student workers. Unit breadth will be determined by democratic decisions, made by student workers who represent a variety of work duties;
- When new student-worker Units are initially filing with the NLRB, petitions should include an inclusive scope of workers, including at least all instructors and researchers;
- UAW staff will never make a decision to exclude workers from a Unit; any such decision will always be made democratically by workers who are organizing;
- Within the categories of workers included in Unit definitions, special attention will be dedicated to organizing workers at risk of exclusion, to ensure management cannot roll back unit scope during future contract negotiations;
- Existing student worker unions will be supported in pursuing concerted organizing campaigns and UC petitions to expand and engage membership across divisions and distinctions, to lay the groundwork for unit expansion in future contract negotiations.
Be it further resolved, that the focus on Unit scope and Recognition provisions is only the first step in the UAW’s sectoral bargaining strategy for student workers. The UAW will support members and Locals in beginning to pursue the democratic development of a sectoral strategy, including through developing an educational program for building student-worker awareness of and militancy for sectoral bargaining.
Final Passed Resolution
Whereas, student workers require protections based on the labor they perform rather than:
- The job title provided to them by their employer (e.g. Teaching Assistant, Grader, Research Fellow, etc.);
- The degree they are pursuing (e.g. PhD, BA, MA, JD, etc.);
- The number of hours they work per week;
- The source of their position’s funding (e.g. stipend, external/internal fellowship, their principal investigator’s research grants, etc.).
Whereas, universities often aim to divide the student workforce by arguing that workers are not legitimate workers and do not deserve protections, on the basis of their title, degree, hours, funding, or any intersection of these distinctions. At the core of universities’ false claims about union representation not being appropriate for some workers who happen to be students is a material interest in eroding our unions’ membership and undermining coalitions of workers.
Whereas, workers can realize greater collective power through solidarity among all workers who perform the same types of labor for the same employer, and who therefore both have a stake in shared demands and could play an integral role in labor actions.
Whereas, workers who are paid hourly, funded externally, non-PhD, etc. are disproportionately at risk of exclusion attempts by management. An inclusive definition of student-worker Units will bolster collective power and prevent the future exclusion of in-Unit workers.
Whereas, beyond individual Units, establishing a strong basis for sectoral bargaining and democratically developing cross-Unit and cross-workplace strategy, including through alignment of contract expirations, will strengthen the bargaining power of members and Locals to win a COLA, protections against harassment and discrimination, and other key demands.
Therefore be it resolved, that the UAW will adopt a sectoral bargaining strategy that prioritizes defining the scope of the Unit protected by the Agreement (commonly found in the Agreement’s Recognition article) based on job duties rather than by title, degree, hours, or funding. In particular, the scope should include at least all instructors and researchers enrolled as students, in the broadest set of contexts possible.
Be it further resolved, that it has been effective in bargaining collective student worker demands to also include other categories of workers, beyond instructors and researchers, within the scope of the Unit protected by the Agreement. The scope should thus further include any other categories of workers that are strategic to the context of the workplace or actively organizing within the unionization campaign.
Be it further resolved, that to prevent unit erosion and enable unit expansion during bargaining, the UAW will adopt a parallel strategy in all Representation Election (RC) and Unit Clarification (UC) Petitions, to define the scope of the Unit based on job duties rather than title, degree, hours, or funding. The UAW will support members and Locals in proactively filing UC Petitions, as has been done recently by the Student Workers of Columbia at Local 2710.
Be it further resolved, that this new sectoral strategy will be carried out through the following:
- New student-worker organizing campaigns will begin with a survey of the categories of work performed by student workers. Unit breadth will be determined by democratic decisions, made by student workers who represent a variety of work duties;
- When new student-worker Units are initially filing with the NLRB, petitions should include an inclusive scope of workers, including at least all instructors and researchers, in the broadest set of contexts possible;
- UAW staff will never make a decision to exclude workers from a Unit; any such decision will always be made democratically by workers who are organizing;
- Within the categories of workers included in Unit definitions, special attention will be dedicated to organizing workers at risk of exclusion, to ensure management cannot roll back unit scope during future contract negotiations;
- Existing student worker unions should make efforts to include any carved-out workers when bargaining contracts in the broadest set of contexts possible and will be supported in pursuing concerted organizing campaigns and UC petitions to expand and engage membership across divisions and distinctions, to lay the groundwork for unit expansion in future contract negotiations.
Be it further resolved, that the focus on Unit scope and Recognition provisions is only the first step in the UAW’s sectoral bargaining strategy for student workers. The UAW will support members and Locals in beginning to pursue the democratic development of a sectoral strategy, including through developing an educational program for building student-worker awareness of and militancy for sectoral bargaining.
2023 Convention
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