A message on graduate student union election results

Dear members of the Stanford community,

As you may be aware, the National Labor Relations Board has tallied the ballots from Stanford’s graduate student unionization election. Of the votes cast, 1,639 were in favor of representation by United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE). 108 voted against unionizing. Approximately 51% of eligible voters voted in the election.

Because the union received a majority of the ballots cast, UE has been selected as the exclusive representative of those graduate students who are included in the Stanford Graduate Workers Union (SGWU) bargaining unit.

We look forward to working in good faith with SGWU. As has been our position throughout the election process, we are dedicated to the success of our graduate students and to our education and research mission. These commitments will continue to guide us. We will provide information to our community about the next steps in the bargaining process as it becomes available.

Thank you to all those who participated in the election and to those who provided support for the election process. As university leaders, we will continue to respect, support, and work to advance the needs of our graduate student community.

Sincerely,

Marc Tessier-Lavigne, President
Persis Drell, Provost