Duke doctoral students voted overwhelmingly in favor of an officially recognized union, with 1,000 ballots in favor of unionization and 131 against.
“Duke has always cared deeply about our graduate students, and we look forward to working with representatives of the Southern Region Workers United on the shared goal of making the graduate experience at Duke the very best it can be,” Provost Alec Gallimore wrote in a statement.
With National Labor Relations Board recognition, the union is required by law to be recognized by the University as the exclusive bargaining body for its doctoral students. The vote also marks the union as the first officially recognized graduate student union at a private university in the South, the largest union on Duke's campus and one of the largest unions in North Carolina.
The union's most pressing demands include a cost-of-living-adjusted stipend, increased support for international students who must pay additional fees and face visa difficulties and reforms for the University's harassment and discrimination grievance process.
"We are so proud of everyone who has been in this fight for our union at Duke since going back to 2016. Multiple generations of graduate students have fought for this ... not just the current union but the folks who have been at work for years and years," said Matthew Thomas, fourth-year doctoral student in the English department and former co-chair of the DGSU.
The Duke Graduate Students Union has been operating as a direct-join union without NLRB recognition since 2017, after it withdrew its petition for unionization when the University challenged 502 of its ballots. There were only 14 challenged ballots at the Tuesday vote count.
The DGSU launched its second unionization campaign in September 2022 and filed for an election in March. In response, the University challenged a 2016 NRLB ruling that affirms the right for doctoral students to unionize as employees. Lisa Henderson, regional director for Region 10 of the NLRB, rejected Duke’s challenge in July and approved the union's petition for an election.
Duke may decide to challenge the results of the election within the next seven days. If it does not, the results of the election will be officially certified.
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Audrey Wang is a Trinity senior and data editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume. She was previously editor-in-chief for Volume 119.