Cornell Graduate Student Union: A History of Advocacy and Collective Bargaining

Cornell Graduate Student Workers United - United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (CGSU-UE) serves as the exclusive representative for graduate student workers in collective bargaining at Cornell University. Representing teaching assistants, graduate research assistants, research assistants, and graduate assistants across the Ithaca, Geneva, and Cornell Tech campuses, CGSU-UE has a history marked by efforts to improve the working conditions and rights of its members.

The Genesis of Graduate Student Unionization

The movement for graduate student unionization gained momentum in the late 1960s. In 1969, graduate student employees at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, successfully formed the first voluntarily recognized union for student employees, negotiating a contract in 1970. Although students at the University of California, Berkeley, attempted to unionize around the same time, their union was never formally recognized and eventually disbanded.

Early legal challenges

In 1974, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that research assistants within the Stanford University physics department did not have the right to unionize, stating that they were primarily doctoral students, not employees. This decision set a federal precedent that remained unchanged for the next two decades, impacting students at private colleges and universities.

Legal ping pong (2000-2015)

The legal landscape for graduate student unions at private institutions shifted between 2000 and 2015, largely depending on the political leanings of the presidential administration. In 2000, the NLRB, under President Bill Clinton's appointees, ruled that New York University graduate assistants had the right to unionize, leading to a surge of unionization efforts at other institutions. However, this precedent was reversed in 2004 under President George W. Bush, and NYU subsequently refused to negotiate a new agreement with graduate students.

NLRB counts grad students as employees (2016)

A significant turning point occurred in August 2016 when President Barack Obama’s NLRB voted that Columbia University undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants should be considered employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act. This ruling granted students the right to unionize once again, a right that remained even under President Donald Trump. After the 2016 election, student unions strategically withdrew their NLRB claims to prevent pending cases from overturning the Columbia University decision. The board attempted to overturn the Columbia case through regulatory action in 2019, but President Joe Biden withdrew the proposed rule in 2021.

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Labor activism rises post-pandemic (2020-2024)

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a new wave of student activism and unionization. The pandemic highlighted the benefits of having a union in place.

Present: private institution organizing halts

Unionizing efforts came to a standstill in early 2025 as a direct result of President Trump taking office once again. Many aspiring graduate and undergraduate unions withdrew their petitions to unionize in late 2024. This leaves the Trump administration without an easy lever to review the 2016 NLRB decision recognizing Columbia University students as employees. These withdrawals were a “strategic retreat.”

Cornell Graduate Students United (CGSU)

Members of Cornell Graduate Students United made inroads to full union representation as dozens of students signed official union cards and paid dues to the fledgling organization aimed at improving conditions for thousands of student workers on the Cornell campus.

Andrew Crook, the group’s communication and outreach committee chairman, said that the move allows students to address their common interests and organize a united voice for their demands. “We are emphasizing that we are workers,” Crook said, citing issues from wages, lack of certain benefits and conditions faced by graduate students. “People are now viewing this as work - as labor - not just as an adjunct to their degree. They view themselves as student-workers and not just students.”

Key issues and concerns

CGSU emerged from concerns about stipends and the workers' compensation policy. An incident in August 2013, where a Cornell graduate student working in a laboratory suffered a severe hand injury, highlighted the lack of benefits afforded to students not considered employees. Without a union, students lacked bargaining power to address such issues.

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First contract and its terms

In April, Cornell’s President and Provost were pleased to share that the university reached a first collective bargaining agreement with Cornell Graduate Student Workers United - United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (CGSU-UE). The CGSU-UE bargaining committee has agreed to unanimously recommend the terms of the agreement to its membership. Graduate student workers should carefully review the key terms below and the full text of the agreements and promptly ratify this excellent deal.

The agreement goes into effect when it is ratified and extends until May 1, 2027.

Beginning fall 2025, the minimum stipend for graduate student workers in Ithaca will be $47,548, which includes a 3.9% increase to the base stipend plus a $544 benefits adjustment that covers dental and vision insurance costs and access to Cornell Fitness Centers; and in fall 2026, $48,911, which includes a 2.9% increase to the base stipend plus a $544 benefits adjustment.

Graduate student workers will receive platinum SHP insurance with no cost for self-coverage. Gender, reproductive, sexual and mental health care are all included.

Parental leave accommodation will be doubled, increasing from six (6) weeks to twelve (12) weeks following the birth, adoption or placement of a child.

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The university held firm for a Union Security provision that will allow individuals who object to joining the union and paying union dues to continue their studies at Cornell. This agreement preserves freedom of choice for students who object to union membership while still recognizing the contractual agreement between the union and the university.

A new benefit for doctoral students this fall is access to a free TCAT OmniRide Pass for all years of your graduate study.

Union security clause and charitable contributions

The Union Security article states that students may choose between three options: join the union and pay dues, elect to not join the union and pay an agency fee, or make a charitable contribution in lieu of dues or an agency fee, based upon the student’s religious objection, which includes moral or ethical objection.

The university has taken painstaking steps to try to engage in meaningful discussions with the union on this very important topic. Those steps include thoughtful correspondence seeking the union’s engagement and the creation of a sample form that captures the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s language regarding the charitable contribution option. Despite these best efforts by the university, the union is preventing graduate student workers with religious, moral, or ethical objections from exercising their rights under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. As such, the university cannot properly implement the Union Security Article.

The university responded to the CGSU-UE’s decision to unilaterally implement a dues collection process at odds with the parties’ agreement.

Disputes and miscommunications

Cornell has communicated directly with the union regarding their continued attempts to misrepresent the fact that graduate students are NOT required to join the union and pay dues or agency fees and risk losing their assistantships, but instead may avail themselves of the charitable contribution option under the Union Security clause. Cornell has demanded the Union correct its recent miscommunication.

On September 17, 2025, Cornell learned that CGSU-UE sent a communication misrepresenting the plain and unambiguous terms and intent of our collective bargaining agreement’s (CBA) Union Security clause and Paragraph 2 of our July 23, 2025 settlement agreement. The university is at a loss as to why the Union continues to ignore what it agreed to in collective bargaining in March 2025 and again in the July 2025 grievance settlement. Compounding the Union’s misrepresentation, the Union sent this communication to at least one graduate student who already successfully elected to exercise the charitable contribution option. Cornell demands that the CGSU-UE immediately issue a public retraction and clarification to all graduate students properly setting forth the language of our CBA and settlement agreement.

The Bargaining Process

Bargaining looks different from school to school. At the University of Oregon, the process involves union members presenting their demands and explaining the reasoning behind them. These initial meetings typically run around three hours long and anyone can attend, including someone who is not a union member. The university can then counter, and negotiations continue as unions survey members to determine worker needs. It can take several months to finalize a contract between a university and union members. The university can also refuse to bargain or delay giving a counterproposal, prolonging the process even more.

What Makes a Strong Graduate Union?

Creating a healthy and functioning union takes work. It requires many people investing many hours into the union and building relationships with colleagues to hear their needs. This explains why many attempts to create unions fail and many other unions disband.

One of the biggest challenges to building a strong union is that graduate students, especially those in doctoral programs, work closely with faculty who act as academic advisors. Many graduate students feel afraid that they might upset faculty if they were to voice their concerns. Overcoming this fear and not feeling powerless are critical to creating a strong union.

Another challenge to unionization efforts are “right-to-work laws.” States that have adopted such laws allow employees to forgo union membership and avoid paying union dues, even in majority-union industries. These laws hinder unions, which largely depend on membership fees to function.

Why Do Students Unionize?

There is no universal reason behind why students unionize. However, there are some commonalities across organizing efforts. Student workers tend to want living wages for their work and consistency in the job description. A union can provide a baseline from one generation of students to the next. The goal is to ensure better conditions for future students.

List of Graduate Student Unions

University of Wisconsin, Madison - Teaching Assistants’ Association (TAA) (1969)
University of Michigan - Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) (1975)
University of Oregon - Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation (GTFF) (1976)
University of Massachusetts, Amherst - Graduate Employees Organization (GEO-UAW Local 2322) (1990)
Stony Brook University (SUNY) - Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU-CWA Local 1103) (1993)
Yale University - Local 33 UNITE HERE! (GESO) (1995, 2023)
University of California System - UAW Local 2865 (1999, 2008, 2019, 2021)
New York University - Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC-UAW) (2000, 2012)
Temple University - Temple University Graduate Student Association (TUGSA) (2001)
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) (2002)
University of Washington - UAW Local 4121 (2004)
University of Illinois, Chicago - Graduate Employees Organization (GEO) (2004)
Columbia University - Student Workers of Columbia University (SWC-UAW) (2016)
The New School - Student Employees at the New School (ENSE-UAW) (2017)
Loyola University Chicago - Loyola Graduate Workers’ Union (LGWU) (2017)
University of Chicago - Graduate Students United (GSU) (2017)
Tufts University - Tufts University Graduate Workers Union (2017)
Harvard University - Harvard Graduate Students Union (HGSU-UAW) (2018)
Indiana University, Bloomington - Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition (IGWC) (2021)
Clark University - Clark University Graduate Workers Union (CUGWU) (2022)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Graduate Student Union (MITGSU-UE) (2022)
Boston University - Boston University Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU) (2022)
Northwestern University - Northwestern University Graduate Workers (NUGW-UE) (2023)
John Hopkins University - Teachers & Researchers United (TRU-UE) (2023)
University of Chicago - Graduate Students United (GSU-UE) (2023)
Dartmouth College - Graduate Organized Laborers of Dartmouth (GOLD-UE) (2023)
Duke University - Duke Graduate Students Union (2023)
University of Minnesota - UMN Graduate Labor Union (GLU-UE) (2023)
Cornell University - Cornell Graduate Students United (CGSU) (2023)
Emory University - EmoryUnite! (2023)
University of Southern California - Graduate Student Workers Organizing Committee (GSWOC-UAW USC) (2023)
Stanford University - Stanford Graduate Workers Union (SGWU) (2023)
University of Maine - University of Maine Graduate Workers Union (2023)
Northeastern University - Graduate Employees of Northeastern University (GENU-UAW) (2023)
Syracuse University - Syracuse Graduate Employees United (SGEU) (2023)
Western Washington University - Western Academic Workers United (WAWU-UAW) (2023)
University of Alaska - Alaska Graduate Workers Association (AGWA-UAW) (2023)
Wesleyan University - Wesleyan Graduate Labor Union (WesGLU) (2024)
University of Vermont - UVM Graduate Students United (GSU-UAW 2322) (2024)
University of New Hampshire - Graduate Employees United UNH UAW (UNH-GEU-UAW) (2024)
University of Pennsylvania - Graduate Employees Together - University of Pennsylvania (GETUP-UAW) (2024)
Saint Louis University - Graduate Workers of Saint Louis University Union (GWSLUU-UAW) (2024)
George Washington University - George Washington University Graduate Workers United (GWU2) (2024)
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Sinai Student Workers-UAW (SSW-UAW) (2024)
University of Montana - University of Montana Graduate Employee Union (UM-GEU) (2024)
University of Pittsburgh - Pitt Graduate Workers Union (PGWU-USW) (2024)
University of Rochester - University of Rochester Graduate Labor Union (UR-GLU) (2024)
Emerson College - Emerson Union for Resident Assistants (EURA) (2024)
California Institute of Technology - Caltech Grad Researchers and Postdocs United (UAW Local 2478) (2024)

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