Frequently Asked Questions

A union is a group of coworkers who come together to make improvements in their workplace that they cannot achieve alone. In the United States, the National Labor Relations Act protects workers’ right to form a union; when the National Labor Relations Board certifies a union, the employer is legally required to negotiate with workers  for a contract. Having a union means that we have a say in our pay, benefits, protections and working conditions. A union’s power lies in workers’ collective action and participation, and in the fact that our labor generates value for employers.

The UAW (The United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America) is one of the largest and most diverse unions in North America, with members in many sectors of the economy.

Workers have unionized with the UAW in workplaces ranging from multinational corporations, small manufacturers and state and local governments to colleges and universities, hospitals and private non-profit organizations.

The UAW has more than 400,000 active members and more than 580,000 retired members in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

GETUP-UAW Local 5124 is part of a growing movement of more than 100,000 higher education workers across the country who have joined the UAW and won improvements that raise the bar for all workers in our sector.

“Collective Bargaining Agreement” refers to our union contract. Unlike other kinds of contracts, union contracts are the result of an agreement reached through collective bargaining. Collective bargaining is the process whereby unionized workers meet with their employers to negotiate terms and conditions of employment. Without collective bargaining, employers unilaterally determine all conditions of our employment.

Workers in bargaining unit positions are covered by the rights and benefits outlined in our contract and have recourse to grievance and arbitration to enforce the terms of the contract.

The bargaining unit consists of all Graduate Workers: currently enrolled Penn graduate and professional students who provide paid research or instructional services for the University (including those who serve as Teaching Assistants, Teaching Fellows, Research Assistants, Research Fellows, Pre-Doctoral Trainees, Student Workers, and Educational Fellowship Recipients). This includes Graduate Workers serving as graders and instructors of record. This excludes Educational Fellowship Recipients in lab rotations in the first year of the Biology PhD Program and the first and second years of the Biomedical Graduate Studies PhD Program.

No. As international Graduate Workers, we are often worried about our legal status in the U.S. These concerns are heightened for those of us from countries without strong labor rights and protections. However, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) cannot ask you questions about your union membership or your participation in lawful union activity. Nor can they use such information in determining the outcome of your immigration/visa application. Further, the National Labor Relations Act does not differentiate between citizens and non-citizens. Its statutory protections extend to all U.S. workers, regardless of their status as immigrants to this country. There are tens of thousands of international graduate students, postdocs, and researchers that are part of UAW, and there has never been any reported instance of participation in a union affecting re-entry or a visa or permanent residency application.

All international graduate students enjoy the same rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association as U.S. citizens. U.S. law also protects your right to join a union. Union activity is not considered restricted political activity. 

Students on visas are prohibited from making financial donations to political candidates and political parties under U.S. law, including making contributions to V-CAP, the UAW’s political action program. That said, many international graduate students contribute to political campaigns by volunteering time. For example, international graduate students have joined for canvassing, phonebanking, and meetings with elected officials.

All graduate workers in the GETUP-UAW bargaining unit receive the pay, benefits and protections included in our contract. By choosing to join your colleagues in becoming a member of GETUP-UAW Local 5124 you are helping to ensure that our union is strong, that we can enforce the rights and benefits we have won, and that we have the power to win further improvements in the future. More membership means more collective power for all Graduate Workers at Penn.

Being a member of GETUP-UAW Local 5124 also means that you have a say in the future direction of our union. Members can participate in democratic decision-making by voting in internal union elections, running for elected union positions, and participating in membership and committee meetings. Graduate Workers who sign up as members pay union dues — 1.44% of our pay — to support strong organizing and contract enforcement.

All currently-enrolled Penn Doctoral and Masters students at Penn who 1) are currently in a paid teaching or research position or 2) may work in a paid teaching or research position in the future can sign up as members of GETUP-UAW Local 5124.

To sign up as a member of GETUP-UAW, fill out the form at this link and:

1. Select “I accept membership in GETUP-UAW.”
2. Complete the membership form and sign to authorize membership and dues deductions.
3. Elect whether or not to make an additional voluntary contribution to the UAW political action program.

Paying union dues and signing up for union membership are optional. Grad workers may instead elect to decline membership in GETUP-UAW. Because everyone in the bargaining unit must receive all of the benefits of the contract, the contract stipulates that non-members are required to pay an equivalent “fair share” fee. If you decline membership, you must instead elect to pay a fair share fee equivalent to union dues. You can decline membership and elect to pay fair share fees by filling out the form at this link, selecting “I decline membership in GETUP-UAW Local 5124,” and completing the linked form to authorize “fair share” fee deductions.

Union dues consist of a one-time $10 initiation fee and a contribution of 1.44% of each Graduate Worker’s gross pay. Dues are deducted from each paycheck union members receive from Penn while working in a paid teaching or research position within the bargaining unit. Signing up as a member authorizes Penn to automatically deduct dues from members’ paychecks.

Dues are how Graduate Workers pool our resources to sustain a powerful union capable of pushing back against Penn, a multi-billion dollar institution.

• About one-third of our dues go to our local union, GETUP-UAW Local 5124, to pay for legal advice, experienced staff organizers, communication and data infrastructure, and other materials necessary for us to enforce our contract and negotiate another strong agreement in two years. 
• Another one-third of our dues go to the UAW International Union. As UAW members, we are part of an international organization that includes almost one million members, including over 100,000 in higher education. The UAW International provides us with expertise and support regarding negotiations, contract enforcement, legal matters, health and safety, insurance benefits, and many other issues. 
• Another one-third of our dues go into the UAW Strike and Defense Fund, which maintains our ability to take strike action if necessary. If we had needed to strike to win our current agreement, each striking Graduate Worker would have received $500 per week as well as medical and prescription benefits from this fund. If we need to strike in the future, we will have access to this fund. Some of this money is also used to organize other workers, like Penn Postdocs and Research Associates, academic employees at Harvard, Columbia, Caltech, and USC, NIH Postdocs, and more! During the past three years, Penn Grad Workers’ union campaign has been fully funded by UAW members’ dues, and now we have the opportunity to pay it forward and help other workers organize powerful unions.

Penn will only deduct dues from Graduate Workers’ paychecks while they are in bargaining unit positions. Penn graduate students who are signed up as dues-paying members while not in a paid teaching or research position will not have dues or V-CAP voluntary contributions deducted from their paychecks. They will also not pay the one-time $10 initiation fee until entering a bargaining unit position.

V-CAP is the UAW’s political action program, which includes UAW’s PAC (Political Action Committee). The PAC fund is made up of voluntary contributions from UAW members, both active and retired. The money supports political candidates who fight for workers’ rights and have earned the endorsement of the UAW Community Action Program (CAP). The UAW CAP is UAW’s non-partisan political advocacy body. CAP educates members on political issues that affect them and their communities. CAP also registers members to vote, and works to elect politicians who stand with workers. As part of this effort, CAP endorses candidates who have a record of backing legislation that supports unions and addresses issues facing workers. CAP is not tied to any political party.

You can sign up to make regular voluntary contributions to UAW V-CAP when you sign up to become a dues-paying member of GETUP-UAW. Only U.S. citizens eligible to vote in U.S. elections can make voluntary contributions to UAW V-CAP.