Letter Delivery and Hearing update!

by | Jun 2, 2025 | Updates

Letter Delivery to Admin

On Friday, graduate workers delivered a letter with over 1,000 signatures from research assistants, trainees, and graduate workers across multiple campuses and a majority of departments. The administration continues to object to the inclusion of RAs and trainees in our union, beginning a lengthy hearing process, starting this week.

When graduate workers filed union authorization cards in December, we anticipated threats to our livelihood from the Trump administration and urged the Penn State administration to let us vote to form our union so we could secure the power and security guaranteed by a union contract to protect ourselves.

Instead, their offices have chosen to object to the status of Research Assistants and Trainees as workers, delaying the process and putting us in greater danger and leaving us to fend for ourselves in the face of crises on all fronts – from cuts to federal research programs, to the revocation of graduate worker visas.

Hearing Update: Day 1

Beginning today, and going through the end of the week, Penn State Admin will be arguing that Research Assistants and Trainees aren’t workers in an unnecessary hearing. A majority of grad workers signed union authorization cards, and over a thousand signed onto the letter demanding they drop their objection and the hearing, but instead of listening to workers Penn State Admin has chosen to further delay the process. Grad workers are sitting in on the hearing and taking notes on the progress throughout the week. Here’s what Grad Workers said at the hearing today:

  • RA’s and Trainees from across multiple departments and colleges described the work they do and the value they add to the university

  • We explained the work we do in our dissertations, and also the work that we do as RA’s and trainees such as: editing journals, cleaning and maintaining laboratory spaces, mentoring more junior graduate workers, and working on large scale research projects.

The hearing will continue this week, with grad workers continuing to talk about their experiences for the rest of the week!