For an opposing point of view, see “A test for Gov. Spanberger,” by Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee.
A long-time interest in revolutionizing sustainable energy led me to become a researcher and Ph.D. student in the field of chemical engineering. My fellow students and I are working to address a variety of large-scale societal challenges through our research, from developing forms of renewable energy to seeking new cancer treatments. When we entered grad school, all of us accepted significantly reduced pay compared to the starting salary for a newly graduated chemical engineer. We did so because we care deeply about learning how to be scientists, teaching others and doing good research that benefits society. We deserve a seat at the table and a chance to negotiate for fair working conditions, and we are calling for the General Assembly to include us in historic legislation that would expand collective bargaining rights to more than half a million public service workers across Virginia.
During my first year of graduate school, I quickly realized that many of the more senior students seemed burned out and exhausted. Some had experienced untold levels of sexism or racism; their reports were brushed off by university reporting offices like Title IX, and they could no longer bear the thought of making more reports only to have their experiences dismissed. Several students from various departments had been overloaded with teaching, dissertation-writing and job-searching responsibilities in their final semester because their advisors had no funding. A friend of mine had to scramble to graduate a year early because the university would not provide funding when her advisor could not. By the time of graduation, several students I talked to told me that they had given up on pursuing a career in academia or even lost their passion for science because of all that they had faced while in grad school.
All of this was deeply distressing for me to learn, especially when those other students had become my friends, mentors and colleagues. Plus, I was acutely aware of how these problems were almost certainly affecting the field which I cared so deeply about. How could any grad student be an effective and present researcher — or a teacher for undergraduate students — under these circumstances?
In the midst of my worries, I stumbled into an event at UVa’s Special Collections Library on collective bargaining for the common good. I knew there was a union at UVa, but I wasn’t particularly interested in getting involved with labor organizing and I had no idea what collective bargaining even was. After the event, though, my interest was piqued. I joined the union and started to learn how organized collective action could change the academic system for the better.
Once I started talking to my fellow students, it seems like there was no shortage of issues that could be solved if only our university was willing to listen and provide the necessary resources. One student talked with me about her struggle to pay for moving expenses, like first month’s rent and a plane ticket to Charlottesville; incoming students don’t get their first paycheck until well after they’ve had to pay for these expenses, but this could be solved with something as simple as a relocation advance. Other times, we’ve discussed the fact that we as graduate students often work weekends, but we don’t always have the option to compensate for that during the week if we need an extra sick day or time to attend a doctor’s appointment. Another student told me that he would spend an inordinate amount of time just searching for a parking spot in the morning in order to get to his research lab; UVa could alleviate this problem not only by lowering the cost of parking (currently at least $400 per year) but also by expanding remote work flexibility and campus transit.
At times, though, it seems the university is actively working to take opportunities away from us. Up until last year, engineering Ph.D. students could apply to a fellowship that would allow them to spend a semester co-teaching a course with a faculty member. A member of my lab participated in the fellowship a few years ago; the experience was instrumental in helping her land a prominent teaching faculty position. However, the university stopped the program this year, claiming that they no longer were able to fund it. This came from a university which has one of the strongest financial positions of any in the country — UVA’s endowment of $16 billion is among the highest among universities in the United States, and its net financial position has consistently increased over the past five years, sometimes by millions of dollars (its highest increase of $3.7 million during the last five years was during the pandemic). But UVa does not spend its surplus to invest in its workers or the Charlottesville community. Tuition has continuously increased despite growing enrollment, wages have stagnated while pay for top earners skyrockets and there never seems to be a shortfall when it comes to acquiring new properties, even when against the wishes of the Charlottesville community.
UVa workers deserve a seat at the table and a chance to negotiate for fair working hours and workplace protections. Unfortunately, state employees are barred from engaging in collective bargaining as a result of efforts that can be traced all the way back to the 1940s at none other than UVa. The university pressured the state government to refuse to acknowledge public sector unions, all because they did not want to negotiate with Black hospital workers who were successfully organizing for better pay and safer working conditions.
This year, historic legislation (HB 1263 and SB 378) was introduced in the General Assembly to repeal the ban on collective bargaining for state employees. By allowing public service workers the freedom to form a union and collectively bargain for our wages, benefits and working conditions, this legislation would give us a voice on the job and empower us to negotiate for the tools we need to better do our jobs.
Unfortunately, university administrations across the commonwealth quietly lobbied against the bill, and legislators in the House of Delegates responded to the pressure and amended the bill to specifically exclude university workers from collective bargaining rights. It is deeply shameful that the institutions that had a hand in passing the ban in the first place are once again using their power and prestige to ensure that this right continues to be withheld from the workers who keep their institution running. It is not too late for the legislature to pass a version of the bill that ensures all public sector workers — including home care workers who were unexpectedly removed from the Senate bill — have the right to collectively bargain. Doing so is the only way to erase this shameful relic from Virginia’s past and ensure that UVa’s administration is held accountable to treat its students, workers and community members with dignity, fairness and respect.
Kelsey Levine is a researcher and Ph.D. student in the field of chemical engineering at the University of Virginia.
