As faculty in the Department of Labor Studies and Industrial Relations, we feel obligated to comment on the attempt by graduate students at Penn State to form a union. We take no official stand on whether graduate students should unionize; that decision must be made by the students themselves. However, based on our expertise in the field of employment and labor relations, we want to share with the university community some observations that we hope will contribute to an informed public discussion of this issue.

Officially recognized unions representing at least 25,000 graduate students exist at more than 20 universities in the United States, including Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, the University of Massachusetts, three campuses at the State University of New York and eight campuses in the University of California system. Wisconsin has had a graduate student union since 1969 and Michigan since 1975. These organizations have been effective representatives for graduate students on such issues as stipends, health benefits, improving teacher training, and enhancing undergraduate education.

According to findings from a 1999 dissertation by Gordon Hewitt at the University of Wisconsin, faculty on campuses with graduate student unions report no loss of collegiality or conflict between collective bargaining and mentoring. Susan Pearson, associate chancellor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, stated in Physics Today that "[when the UAW first began to organize at UMass], people expressed fears about the negative effects on the relationship between faculty and students. None of that has materialized." Both the Modern Language Association and the American Historical Association have within the last two years endorsed the right of graduate students to organize. As these statements indicate, there is nothing about higher education or graduate student status that is incompatible with collective bargaining and unionism.

The clear trend in labor law is to recognize that graduate students occupy a dual role as professionals in training and as employees who perform valuable functions for their institutions. Recently, the National Labor Relations Board in New York ruled that graduate students at New York University are employees of NYU and eligible to organize a union under federal labor law. This decision may well encourage further graduate student organizing at private universities.

In October 2000, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the right of graduate students at the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana to organize. Also, in an October 17, 2000 ruling, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board unanimously decided that graduate students at Temple University were covered by state labor law and permitted to form a union. The PLRB noted in its ruling that "Graduate Assistants here have an established relationship with Temple for periods of one to five years. The notion that an individual whose relationship with an employer lasts for a period of more than one year would be denied employee status under PERA (Pennsylvania Employee Relations Act) is contrary to our case law."

We anticipate this trend will continue in recognition of changes in the academy that have thrust graduate students into an employee relationship with their universities.

The right to organize a union is recognized under both state and federal law, and freedom of association is considered a fundamental human right by the International Labor Organization, an arm of the United Nations.

All segments of the university community should scrupulously respect the right of graduate students to organize in an atmosphere free of fear, intimidation, or reprisal.

Finally, in the spirit of critical inquiry and academic freedom, we suggest that forums be arranged for open discussion and debate about the merits of graduate student unionism.

The entire university community would benefit from a free exchange of views on this vital subject.