Skip to content
Education

Penn graduate student workers could strike next month

Thousands of unionized teaching and research assistants plan to walk off the job if a contract deal is not reached by the deadline.

Wence Valentin III, a political director for UAW Region 9, turns toward graduate students calling for strike vote against University of Pennsylvania.
Wence Valentin III, a political director for UAW Region 9, turns toward graduate students calling for strike vote against University of Pennsylvania. Read moreAlejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

The union that represents about 3,400 University of Pennsylvania graduate student workers says they will go on strike Feb. 17 if they do not reach a contract deal with the university by then.

“We love our jobs, but Penn’s administration is leaving us no choice but to move forward with a strike,” said Nicolai Apenes, a Ph.D. candidate and research assistant in immunology, in a statement shared by the union Tuesday. “We are ready to stand up and demand that our rights are respected.”

Penn’s graduate student workers voted to unionize in 2024. The union has been negotiating with the university since October 2024 for a first contract, and some tentative agreements have been reached on a number of issues.

Sticking points in bargaining include wages, healthcare coverage, and more support for international student workers.

In November the teaching and research assistants voted to authorize a strike if called for by the union, which is known as Graduate Employees Together-University of Pennsylvania (GET-UP) and is part of the United Auto Workers (UAW).

A spokesperson for the University of Pennsylvania could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday morning.

“While we hope that Penn comes to the table and negotiates a fair contract for these essential workers, we know that these workers are a powerful force that Penn cannot break,” said Daniel Bauder, Philadelphia AFL-CIO president, in a statement Tuesday. “We are proud to stand with them and the broader Coalition of Workers at Penn as they fight the biggest employer in the region and bring union power to the University of Pennsylvania.”

Penn, the largest employer in Philadelphia, has seen a wave of student-worker organizing in recent years, including resident assistants, graduate students, postdocs and research associates, as well as training physicians in the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

The region has also seen a couple other university strikes in recent years. In 2023 graduate workers at Temple University walked off the job for 42 days amid contract negotiations, and in a separate action at Rutgers University, educators, researchers, and clinicians went on strike for a week.