Unionized Emory grad students ratify first contract with university
Nearly two years after voting to unionize, doctoral students at Emory University have ratified their first contract, representing the first and only labor contract at Georgia’s largest private university.
The agreement guarantees student-workers will receive a $42,000 base stipend, up 16% from $36,000 at the start of bargaining, and allocates $450,000 to a financial hardship fund.
It also lowers out-of-pocket maximums for Emory’s student health insurance plan by $1,500 and ensures remote work contingencies for disabled and chronically ill student-workers, as well as international students who cannot return to the U.S, among other agreements.
Of the votes cast, 97% were in favor of ratification.
EmoryUnite’s contract, which runs through August 2027, is the culmination of more than 30 bargaining sessions and hours of organizing, said union co-chair Tasfia Jahangir, who is a Ph.D. student in behavioral, social and health education sciences.
“We’ve built the foundation of our union with this contract and now we’re going to build on it,” Jahangir said. “It’s so important that we’re doing this right now with cuts to DEI and reduced protections for students. We need to keep mobilizing and finding ways to improve.”
In a press release, interim Provost Lanny S. Liebeskind and Kimberly Jacob Arriola, the dean of the Laney Graduate School, said they are “pleased to have reached an agreement that reflects a shared commitment to top-quality graduate education and an Emory experience that fosters success.” Emory declined to comment beyond what was included in the release.
EmoryUnite is the only organized labor group at Emory. The student-workers overwhelmingly agreed to join Workers United, which is part of the Service Employees International Union, in November 2023. But the union officially formed as a voluntary-join organization in 2016, following a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board that graduate students at private universities are employees with the right to collective bargaining.
The union only represents student-workers in the Ph.D. program. Grad students are not required to join the union.
Georgia, as well as other Southern states, has historically had a lower share of the workforce represented by unions. In 2024, 3.8% of wage and salary workers in Georgia were union members, compared with 4.6% in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationwide, this number is 9.9%.
In recent years, unions have made a push in Georgia, seeking safer working conditions and better pay. Workers at Starbucks and Waffle House have organized. Bus drivers at Georgia Tech also voted for union representation in 2023.
Unions have been in a tight spot following an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March and updated in August, which banned unions at most federal agencies with national security missions. These include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Energy, among others. Legislation was introduced in the Senate earlier this month to block the executive order, with a similar measure being introduced to the House in April.
Unionization in higher education has increased within the last decade, particularly among graduate student employees. Between 2012 and 2024, unionized student-workers grew by 133%, while faculty increased by 7.5%, according to data from the National Education Association. There are also undergraduate student unions across several states, which include dining hall workers and resident advisers.
EmoryUnite’s priorities heading into the bargaining session were ensuring wages keep up with increases in the cost of living, eliminating student fees and protections over leaves of absence, among others.
Some concessions had to be made, including the base stipend the two parties settled on, Jahangir said.
“It’s still not a living wage, especially kind of given the cost of living crisis, that which is a heightening crisis in Atlanta,” Jahangir said. “And so that’s something that we will keep fighting for in the next contract and the next contract and the next contract.”
About the Author
Savannah Sicurella is an entertainment business reporter with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
