Research assistants and collective bargaining
Research assistants are valued members of the campus community. Their work benefits both their own studies and the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s research mission.
The 2009–11 state budget, for the first time, permits the unionization of research assistants at UW–Madison.
This site is designed to provide more information to the university community about this important issue, with the goal of promoting full campus discussion and a more complete understanding of the issue.
Approximately 2,300 graduate students are employed as research assistants on campus. Their activities primarily help their own courses of study and research — work that is applicable to their theses or dissertations.
In the coming weeks and months, research assistants may be asked by union representatives to sign authorization cards.
The process for research assistants will involve a single step: the signing of authorization cards by research assistants. A decision to sign the card will serve as an affirmative vote to form a union. More information regarding the process, and other facets of the issue can be found here.
Chancellor Biddy Martin, in a message to graduate students, underscored the importance of learning more about the issue, gaining a full understanding of its implications and discussing it openly and honestly.
“The university’s interest in the issue can be described very simply. We are an academic community in which open, informed discussion is not only a norm but is also the very definition of what we do,” she said.
“The decision about whether to form a union is a decision for our research assistants,” she added. “The university administration encourages informed debate and ample opportunity for research assistants to inform themselves before deciding whether to sign authorization cards.”
The university encourages everyone — graduate students, faculty and staff — to understand all aspects of the issue as they relate to both individuals and the UW–Madison’s research enterprise.
As more information emerges, it will be posted on this site.
We encourage the entire university community to learn more about collective bargaining for research assistants and to return here for updates. For research assistants, becoming fully aware of this issue’s implications is an avenue to making informed choices.