A strike is a collective refusal of employees to perform work. Here, a strike would mean TAs, RAs, GRAs, and GAs could cease performing their assistantship duties, and they would not be paid for those duties during the strike. However, they would remain responsible for successful completion of their academic responsibilities. Learn more: What are the academic expectations for graduate assistants participating in the strike?

If a strike is authorized, the union leadership can call a strike at any point during contract negotiations.

A strike can last a single day or continue for an indefinite period of time. Union leadership will likely decide the length of any strike.

Answer: The experiences of other universities show that work stoppages are often timed to coincide with critical periods during the semester. Stoppages at the end of the semester, for example, disrupt collection and entry of final grades for undergraduate students.

The timing of a work stoppage is never up to university leadership or management (faculty).

CGSU-UE represents students with appointments as teaching assistants (TAs), graduate research assistants (GRAs), research assistants (RAs), and graduate assistants (GAs) at the Ithaca, Geneva, and Cornell Tech campuses. Students funded through fellowships are not members of the bargaining unit.

Yes, we encourage graduate student workers to be as informed as possible on the issues of the strike by reading these FAQs or by speaking to their supervisors, who will provide you with facts about the strike or their opinions or relevant examples in response to any questions.

No. Cornell respects the union’s legal right to call a strike. However, you remain responsible for successful completion of your academic responsibilities.

After a strike has started, your stipend payments will only be reinstated if you attest to performing your assistantship duties during the strike period.

No.  Federal law protects not only the right to strike, but also the right to refrain from doing so.  Your freedom of choice is important and will be protected.

Yes, the Union can discipline members for performing their appointment duties during a Union-sanctioned strike based on the Union’s rules and constitutions.  Unions, however, cannot discipline individuals who ceased being union members (i.e., individuals who have resigned their union membership).

Yes, you can complete the attestation and you will be paid for your work during the strike. Your supervisor will receive a notification to confirm.

No. Graduate students funded through fellowships are not members of a bargaining unit and cannot legally strike.

Your stipend will be suspended unless you attest to working on your assistantship duties.

Here are some key points on expectations:

• Research: A graduate student’s academic training includes research responsibilities. Failing to progress in research is a failure to meet academic standards that will impact a graduate student’s progress toward degree completion.
• Teaching assistant responsibilities: During a strike action, graduate students who choose to strike from their teaching assistant duties are exercising their rights.
• Academic progress: Graduate students are expected to continue their academic activities, including attending classes, seminars, and journal clubs. Students must maintain academic progress toward completion of their dissertation. Grades, where relevant, and annual evaluation will reflect the level of progress made.
• Grading: Faculty should continue to assign grades based on academic performance and student progress. If a student fails to meet academic requirements, their grades, where relevant, and annual evaluation should accurately reflect their performance.

You can report to work as usual.

If you experience any problems, please notify your supervisor.

New York law generally requires striking employees to  wait 14 days before becoming eligible.

Remember, New York State Department of Labor is solely responsible for determining eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits.

Graduate students need to speak up for themselves if they’re experiencing pressure from union representatives. They should engage directly with reps and make it clear to them if their behavior is aggressive or unwelcome.

Union representatives are legally permitted to be in workplaces that are not secured or otherwise off limits to other visitors (other students, sales reps, equipment technicians, delivery staff, etc.). Union reps are not allowed in secure facilities, such as biohazard areas or in spaces where specialized safety equipment is required as a posted requirement for entry, where they lack authorized access.

Cornell has developed a set of guidelines intended to help Cornell faculty and other members of our community consider contingency plans for research and instructional continuity in the event of work disruptions that could include labor actions. Read these contingency planning resources.

Colleges are also developing guidelines for faculty.

As an employer, Cornell must account for all employee compensation. Faculty supervisors and individual principal investigators (PIs) are responsible for certifying work effort and ensuring appropriate charges, especially for federally-sponsored awards. Attestation forms help us ensure compliance with federal grant reporting regulations.

During the strike, graduate assistants, teaching assistants, graduate research assistants, and research assistants who do not complete the attestation form indicating that they are working are considered not to be working.

Strikes can disrupt classes and research, potentially affecting students’ education and progress. By participating in a strike out of solidarity, faculty can increase these disruptions.

According to federal law (i.e., NLRA) and university policy, strike actions by those outside the union might be considered illegal, potentially leading to disciplinary actions or loss of pay.

No. Pursuant to federal labor law, a supervisor may not ask students whether they intend to participate in a strike or engage in other union activity.

With that being said, if a strike has been formally announced, we would recommend encouraging students to fill out the attestation form to confirm if they are performing their assistant duties.   In reminding students to fill out the attestation, faculty should be careful not to question the assistant about the strike, the work they intend to perform / not perform, or to expand the conversation beyond a reminder to fill out the attestation.

Faculty may also verify for themselves whether sections/planned reviews are being held or whether lab assignments have been addressed.

Here are some suggestions from the Center for Teaching Innovation (CTI) for ensuring continuity when faced with unexpected disruptions:

• Ensure that the instructor of record has continuous access to student grades from the beginning of the semester and throughout. CTI recommends that faculty:
  • Use the Canvas Gradebook to track student grades throughout the semester, so that TAs can work on assigned grading while ensuring everyone with an instructor or admin role in the course can access the grades.
  • Consider using Gradescope to track grades. If this tool is set up through Canvas, the instructor or a course admin would have access to the grades across multiple sections of a course.
  • If you have questions about how best to set up grading, please check out these FAQs or reach out to CTI for a consultation.
• If possible, reduce the need for students to turn in hard copies of their completed work to ensure access to their work and lessen the risk of lost work. We recommend:
  • Having students submit all digital assignments through Canvas.
  • Scanning hard-copy assignments and uploading to Canvas or Gradescope.
• Consider adding a department administrator to all Canvas course sites, for ease of access to grades and Canvas functionalities should the instructor of record become unavailable.
• Consider spreading grading and assignments more evenly throughout the term, rather than in larger end-of-semester concentrations. Having more assignments spread over the term creates more possibilities for making adjustments. Note that this may have important benefits for balancing both student and instructor stress and workload as well.

These and other recommendations for preparing for, communicating and adjusting during periods of disruption can be found on the CTI website.

Review the guidance available on the Graduate Student Unionization Update site: Contingency Planning for Research Supervisors.

There are many possible scenarios in the event a strike, and faculty should prepare for a range of situations. It’s possible that all, some, or none of the bargaining group members in your unit will decline to work. It’s also possible that individuals will change their minds during a work stoppage, and work on some days but not others. Employees who are not in the bargaining unit may also choose to honor the picket line and cease their work. Read more about Distinguishing Between Academic Progress and Assistantship Duties for GRAs, GAs, and RAs During a Work Stoppage.

Like all members of the bargaining unit, GRAs should continue their academic progress while striking, but experiences at other institutions facing graduate student worker strikes indicate that students in similar positions often choose to cease their academic progress. Read more about Distinguishing Between Academic Progress and Assistantship Duties for GRAs, GAs, and RAs During a Work Stoppage.

International students who are members of the bargaining unit can go on strike as graduate student workers, as would be their right, and their stipend payments will stop. If a student is certified as an enrolled student, the expectation is that they are putting time into their degree, even during a strike. For more information, in the event of a strike, any international student with concerns should consult International Services in the Office of Global Learning or an immigration attorney. The NLRA protects an employee’s rights regardless of immigration status.

Regarding immigration regulation resources, the Federal Immigration Regulations (8 CFR § 214.2(f)) states that foreign national students in F-1 status are required to participate in a “full course of study” in order to maintain their F-1 status, which includes on-campus employment through assistantships. (8 CFR §§ 214.2(f)(5)(i); 214.2(f)(9)(i)). Graduate students must serve in that employment capacity to maintain their “full course of study.” (8 CFR § 214.2(f)(9)(i)). The Federal Immigration Regulations addresses what occurs during a strike: “any employment authorization, whether or not part of an academic program, is automatically suspended upon certification by the Secretary of Labor or the Secretary’s designee to the Secretary of Homeland Security or the Secretary’s designee, that a strike or other labor dispute involving a work stoppage of workers is in progress in the occupation at the place of employment..” 8 CFR § 214.2(f)(14).

If union activities or any other form of protest disrupt the classroom, faculty members can say:

Please leave immediately out of respect to the students registered for this class. Your intrusion is highly disruptive. I’ve called for backup support and am informing you that unless you leave immediately and peacefully, you will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards or other appropriate university officials, including the college Academic Integrity Hearing Chair, for disciplinary proceedings.

Additional information:

• Call the Public Safety Communications Center at 607-255-1111 if there are any issues or disruptions. The communications center can also be contacted by phone or text message when using the RAVE Guardian app (download the app if you have not already done so).
• Disruptors could be held responsible for violating two campus policies:
  • Student Code of Conduct, including but not limited to:

• • • Disruption of University Activities: To disrupt or materially interfere with any instructional, research, service, judicial, or other University operation or function.
    • Failure to Comply: Failure to comply with the lawful directive of a university official.
  • Code of Academic Integrity, specifically:
    • (Intro): “Academic integrity is expected not only in formal coursework situations, but in all University relationships and interactions connected to the educational process, including the use of University resources”;
    • (Section 3): “…examples of classroom misconduct include, but are not limited to, talking during an examination, bringing unauthorized materials into the examination room, using unauthorized electronic technology during an examination, and disruptive behavior in the classroom”;
    • (3c): “This section does not limit a faculty member’s prerogative to remove a disruptive student from a classroom under appropriate circumstances.”

This scenario addresses an exclusively academic matter, not an employment issue. For that reason, we advise treating this absence as you would treat any other unexcused absence (consistent with your usual practice and procedure).

This scenario addresses an exclusively academic matter, not an employment issue. For that reason, you should treat this absence as you would treat any other unexcused exam absence (consistent with your usual practice and procedures). By way of example, if your syllabus indicates that an “unexcused exam absence will be scored as a zero” and that approach is consistent with your usual procedure, you should take that same approach here.

Review the guidance available on this site: Contingency Planning for Research Supervisors.

Participants in a strike or work stoppage generally receive no pay, and those students who continue to meet their assistantship duties will be paid.

Note that academic progress remains separate from assistantship duties. Students are still responsible for their own academic progress, even if they elect to not perform their assistantship duties during a strike or work stoppage.

Managers can reassign work during a strike, but there would likely be some obligation to shift work back to the striking employee once the strike is resolved.

No. Usually unions do announce a strike, but there is no requirement to do so. Also, unions generally have an internal procedure for approving a strike that is contained in their constitution. Employers can’t challenge a strike because they believe the union failed to follow its internal procedures for authorizing a strike.

No. Employees have the right to work. Anyone who engages in violent, threatening or similarly illegal conduct during a strike will be subject to discipline, including termination. The university intends to provide increased security during the strike to ensure those who wish to work can do so.

Health insurance coverage will continue, but an employee’s contributions would go into arrears (overdue payment status). Once they return to an active paycheck, the system will be updated to begin recovery of the payments.

The employee will move to the vendor’s direct pay system for other voluntary benefits. The vendor will mail premium invoices directly to the employee’s mailing address on file. Once they return to an active paycheck, premiums will be deducted on a go-forward basis. To avoid a gap or lapse in coverage, the employee is responsible for paying the premiums directly to the vendor when they were not deducted.