Following two days of casting ballots — and years of grassroots organizing — Northwestern University graduate students voted Thursday to unionize and will join the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.
“On Day 99 of being affiliated with UE, we got our ballot count,” said Sara Bowden, a fourth-year doctorate candidate in music theory and cognition and a co-chair of Northwestern University Graduate Workers. “Generations of graduate students have been fighting for this effort at Northwestern for years.”
The National Labor Relations Board moderated the election between Tuesday and Wednesday at the Evanston and Chicago campuses. Of the 2,893 students eligible to vote, 1,644 voted in favor of unionization, and 114 voted against it.
