Penn grad workers vote to authorize a strike

During the past three days, over 2,416 graduate workers voted in the Strike Authorization Vote. With a final result of 2,229 to 187, 92% of graduate workers voted YES! Our Strike Authorization Vote has passed with a strong mandate, and the Bargaining Committee is now authorized to call for a strike if necessary.

Two thirds of all Penn graduate workers voted in favor of authorizing a strike. The message that we have collectively sent to Penn admin is resoundingly clear: admin’s delays and insufficient proposals are unacceptable. Penn must agree to a contract that improves our wages, benefits, and workplace rights. If Penn does not do so, graduate workers are united and prepared to take action.

Grad workers want to come to an agreement as smoothly as possible, and we will exhaust all available options before striking. If Penn continues to refuse a fair agreement, graduate workers may set a strike deadline and prepare to strike as a last resort.

Our next bargaining session is Thursday, December 4 from 10:30 AM – 4:30 PM at the Inn at Penn. This will be our first bargaining session since overwhelmingly voting in favor of authorizing a strike. We encourage you to attend this next negotiation session to observe Penn admin’s responses, and use our caucus time to ask questions and discuss graduate workers’ next steps.