Graduate Student at Stanford is Facing Dismissal by Union Representatives

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In recent years, there has been growing debate over the role of graduate student unions in American universities. The controversies revolve around issues such as academic freedom, religious exemptions, and the use of union dues.

At Stanford University, graduate students are required to join or pay union dues as a condition of employment for teaching and research assistant positions. However, Jewish students and others have faced resistance when seeking religious exemptions from paying these dues. This issue has led to a legal battle, with graduate students suing their union, arguing that the 2018 Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME should apply to them.

The union at Stanford, like many others, mostly directs the dues it collects to the national body. This national body advocates for various controversial causes, including defunding police, taxpayer subsidies for gender-affirming care, and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. This has raised concerns among students who find these causes objectionable.

The stakes are high, as forcing Ph.D. students into ideological unions undermines academic freedom, burdens the poorest students, and turns research training into a battleground for national politics. The conflict at Stanford University regarding graduate student union dues culminated in a July settlement. The settlement recognizes moral and ethical objections to union membership in addition to religious objections. The union agreed to end intrusive questioning and allow objectors to redirect equivalent payments to one of three charities: the United Way, the American Heart Association, or the American Cancer Society.

Other universities have faced similar issues. At the University of Chicago, graduate students are suing their union over similar concerns. Cornell graduate students have filed federal charges alleging that their union and its affiliated union violated Title VII by subjecting them to invasive questionnaires when seeking religious exemptions from dues. MIT's graduate workers' union has faced disputes over religious objectors and dues/agency fee allocations.

Harvard administrators recently reclassified 800 fellowship-funded graduate students as non-employees, excluding them from the bargaining unit. Meanwhile, the University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir currently demands the dismissal of doctoral students who do not join the student union or pay membership fees.

Courts have yet to reach a definitive ruling on the legal status of student unions. If they ultimately agree that graduate students are apprentices receiving training and stipends, compulsory unionization could be curtailed across private universities.

One notable figure in this debate is Jon Hartley, a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University and an affiliated scholar at the Mercatus Center. His research and advocacy have focused on the implications of graduate student unionization for academic freedom and the future of higher education.

Recently, Cornell's administration withheld dues disbursements to the union for six weeks this summer, criticizing the union for failing to communicate clearly on students' rights and using a "short form" follow-up questionnaire. The Graduate Workers Union at Stanford has demanded the dismissal of teaching and research assistants who refuse to join or pay union dues, further escalating the conflict.

As these debates continue, it is clear that the role of graduate student unions in American universities is a complex and contentious issue. The stakes are high, and the outcome could have significant implications for academic freedom, research, and the future of higher education in the United States.