Organizing the South: A role for graduate workers

Graduate employees are an untapped source of union power in the South. They are an exceptionally pro-union and militant group of workers with the potential to expand labor’s footprint in a part of the country essential for raising standards for all workers. Their joint student-employee status provides them exceptional protections against retaliation for organizing. The absence of a legal pathway to union representation in southern states challenges labor unions to adopt new models for organizing and requires new representational structures. We review our experience as graduate employee union organizers at Indiana University during the last five years to illustrate the potential for organizing at dozens of universities throughout the South.