At the University of Massachusetts, grad assistants unionized in 1990 and have more than doubled their minimum salary since then. Consistent with the Constitution of the AFT, local unions establish dues structures that ensure that the majority of dues income stays with the local so that it can maintain its financial autonomy. When you consider the benefits of unionization with regard to income, health insurance, work load, and fairness, union dues don't cost-they pay. Membership in the union will be voluntary, just as it is with the Temple faculty's AFT local union that bargains with the university. Student visas allow international students to work at a university whether or not it is unionized.
International students enjoy the same protections and rights as all other students.
U.S. law protects the rights of all employees to vote for and join a union and those rights apply just as much to international students as anyone else. It is against the law for either the university or the INS to discriminate against international students because of membership or participation in a union. The strike issue is a scare tactic that is often used by management and union opponents to frighten people who are making the decision to join and support a union. Very few organizing campaigns or contract negotiations involve strike action. In fact, the higher the membership and the better organized a union is, the less likelihood that a strike will occur.