Service & Solidarity Spotlight: University of Michigan Student Research Assistants Win Union Election

Working people across the United States regularly step up to help out our friends, neighbors and communities during these trying times. In our Service & Solidarity Spotlight series, we’ll showcase one of these stories every day. Here’s today’s story.

On Monday, graduate student research assistants (GSRAs) at the University of Michigan voted to join the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), AFT Local 3550.

In 1981, GSRAs were barred from organizing after the Michigan Employment Relations Commission ruled that they were not employees under the Public Employment Relations Act. However, that decision was reversed in 2023, restoring their collective bargaining rights. This victory was a product of decades of campus organizing and now adds more than 2,000 additional members to the GEO bargaining unit.

“No matter what job title graduate students hold, we face the same pay, same healthcare, same advisors, and same workplace issues,” said Kevin Zheng, a Ph.D. student in the School of Information. “Furthermore, each of us switch between these positions each semester: I worked as a Fellow last year, as a Research Assistant this year, and will be working as a Graduate Student Instructor in the fall. It only makes sense for us to be represented and organized together under the same union.”