Report Finds Labor Unions in Higher Education Surging, Bucking National Trends

A record high 38% of graduate student workers belong to a union, according to a report that finds collective bargaining in higher education bucking national labor trends. Representation among masters and doctoral students serving as teaching assistants, tutors and in other campus roles surged by 133% from 2012 to January 2024, reaching 150,104 workers in 81 bargaining units. That’s nearly doubled from 83,050 unionized graduate students in 2020, according to the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions at Hunter College, which published the report this month. It noted that 60% of the growth occurred on private campuses, where the federal government regulates bargaining.