Overview
- The Penn State Faculty Alliance, backed by SEIU 668, filed a petition with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor for a vote that could cover roughly 6,000 faculty across campuses.
- Organizers report they have signatures from at least 30% of eligible faculty, the minimum required to request an election under state law.
- If a majority of voting faculty approve, a union would be certified and contract negotiations could begin, with the election timetable depending on whether the university contests the petition.
- Faculty pushing the effort cite campus closures, budget cuts, limited shared governance, and inequities in pay and workload as key motivations.
- Penn State remains the only state-related university in Pennsylvania without a faculty union, and graduate workers voted last month to unionize with about 90% support.