Voluntary recognition campaigns may be necessary in situations in which your right to an election is not yet established. Affiliation with an international union provides training, financial support, organizing support, and resources which are often indispensable. However, unions do not have to affiliate with other unions. A union can chose to affiliate at any point, from before the card-drive to after they have negotiated many contracts. GEO at the University of Michigan won a recognition election, went on strike for a month, and negotiated their first contract before affiliating with the American Federation of Teachers.
Members sometimes sign a public petition instead of membership cards.
During the campaign, the union may hold mass meetings, rallies, informational pickets, and other events to demonstrate their strength and unity. Tedious legal wrangling often ensues, and the Employer can use these hearings as a way of drawing out the unionization process. In many cases, graduate employees have faced a legal battle to prove that they are in fact employees with the right to represent themselves through a union. University administrations have frequently attempted to argue that graduate student employees are not employees but students receiving financial aid. Anti-union graduate students may put up posters, set up websites, or otherwise try to turn people against unionization.