Unlike the state labor laws that govern unionized public universities, federal law does not forbid strikes. Nor would it prevent academic issues being put up for collective bargaining. We also wonder about the consequences of unionization for graduate programs. Fourth, we know that FAS graduate students have genuine and serious concerns about financial aid, housing, health care, diversity, transparency of governance, and grievance procedures. We share these concerns, and during the past years, FAS and GSAS have worked with our community to ameliorate them and to improve the research and teaching that is the heart of graduate education.
More work remains to be done.
We must continue the work of improvement, but together, as members of an academic community united by academic principles, values, and excellence. Irvine The Chronicle of Higher Education regularly covers relevant issues. Here's a story that raises important questions about unionization at the University of California .