The U.A.’s graduate students have formed an union after the votes were counted on Friday and overwhelmingly agreed to the creation of a local chapter. Students across the state majority students at UAF in Fairbanks and Fairbanks – have joined the Alaska Graduate Workers Association – United Auto Workers.
Sophia Sytniak who is an assistant professor in graduate school of psychosocial clinical psychology from the University of Alaska Anchorage, said that the union will be representing approximately 450 fellows, graduate research, student as well as teaching assistants. It is now time to ask members on the issues they want their union leaders to discuss to UA the top UA officials.
“Some of the concerns we’ve heard about are wages, health care as these are among the most important issues,” Sytniak said. “Also there are a lot of our contracts do not allow for the hiring of outside employees. It’s an issue because of our salaries, and us being unable to earn the same living wage that can be a part of, we’re not able to find new employment. This is why it could be a challenge.”
The union vote was held online between October. 13-26. Votes being counted this week by the Alaska Labor Relations Agency. The unionization vote were overwhelmingly 314-11.
Memry Dahl, the university system’s chief human resource officer has sent out a systemwide email message on Friday, announcing that the results will be announced on Thursday.
“After accreditation, the university’s leadership anticipates bargaining on behalf of the unit that was created in the near future,” Dahl wrote.
Sytniak told the press that the union would soon choose a bargaining group.
The UA students began their organizing campaign during the winter months of 2008 and are now following an overall trend of students organizing together with their union, the United Auto Workers. About 100 percent of the 383,000 union members are in higher education institutions, although they are not all students.
In the 1960s until the 1970s in the late 1960s to the 1970s, during the 1970s through late in the 1960s, United Auto Workers union was 1.5 million members. In the present, it’s less than a quarter that size, and less than fifty percent of the members are employed in the automotive sector.
The new group of graduate students marks the very first UAW presence to be found in Alaska.
