Answer: A Union Security article is a component of a collective bargaining agreement (contract) that establishes whether and when graduate students who are members of the bargaining unit must join the CGSU-UE or pay other fees to the union for representing them in collective bargaining. The bargaining teams are currently negotiating over the Union Security article, which is a significant issue for both parties.

The current versions of Union Security and all other articles under negotiation are available in our bargaining tracker.

Answer: Each of these are different types of Union Security articles.

Union shop: In this type of article, all employees must join and remain a member of the union after being hired as a of employment. The requirement to join the union includes the requirement to pay any union dues or initiation fees, as applicable. If agreed to by the Parties, the provision often requires that employees who decline to join must be terminated.

Agency shop: This type of article permits employees to choose whether to join the union and pay union dues, or not. If employees choose not to join the union (and therefore not pay union dues), they instead must pay an “agency fee” to the union to cover the union’s costs related to collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance handling. This fee is typically similar to, but slightly less, than the full amount of union dues as it excludes funding some things, such as union political activities.

Open shop: This type of article allows employees to choose whether to join the union and pay union dues, or not. Members of the bargaining unit are not required to pay union dues or fees if they opt not to join, even though the union still represents them in negotiations and in administering the collective bargaining agreement.

Answer: CGSU-UE has demanded a union shop provision.

Answer: University leadership rejects any proposal that requires graduate students to become and remain members of the union as a condition of employment.

University leadership believes that the ability of our students to pursue a Cornell education must not be contingent upon whether they choose to join the union or otherwise affiliate with other organizations.

Cornell is in favor of a Union Security article that allows every bargaining unit member, now and in the future, to make their own informed decision about whether they want to be affiliated with the union.

Answer: Requiring students to join a union as a condition of holding a Rule 1.3 appointment runs counter to university values and could have grave consequences for graduate students at Cornell.

A union shop provision would mean that students who decline to join the union could be dismissed from their appointments and prohibited from holding future appointments at the university.

In addition, a number of students have implored Cornell representatives not to accept the union’s proposal on Union Security as they value the ability to freely choose which organizations they may affiliate with. By accepting the union’s proposal, Cornell would be turning its back on these students’ significant concerns.

Answer: No. As a representative of graduate student workers, Cornell values the role of CGSU-UE in advocating for policies to benefit graduate student workers, who play crucial roles in carrying out the university’s teaching, research, and outreach missions.

Since the start of contract negotiations in March 2024, Cornell has agreed to a number of compromises with the union, including a dues check-off provision that would automatically deduct dues out of graduate students’ checks, a move that will fund and strengthen the union. Cornell has also agreed to an Academic Freedom proposal with union language that gives students significant leeway in pursuit of their own academic freedom, a type of provision that very few universities, to date, have agreed to include in their contract.

Answer: The university and the union have negotiated productively over the terms and conditions of employment for graduate student workers since the start of bargaining in March 2024. Cornell will continue to negotiate with CGSU-UE in good faith to arrive at an agreement that both parties can accept.

Answer: This term comes from the 1988 Supreme Court decision Communications Workers v. Beck. In Beck, the Supreme Court held that, even under a union security provision requiring the payment of dues or fees to the union, unit members who object to full union membership – which includes paying dues that go towards social and political causes – may continue as ‘core’ members and pay only the share of dues used directly for representation, such as collective bargaining and contract administration. Known as objectors, they are no longer full union members but are still protected by the union contract and represented by the union. Unions are obligated to tell all covered employees about this option. In some collective bargaining agreements, the “objector” concept is generally incorporated by the ability to pay agency fees that only pay for collective bargaining and contract administration.

The CGSU-UE’s union shop proposal currently makes no reference to the Beck objector option.

Union Shop

• Contract provision requiring all Grad Student unit members to become Union Members and Pay Union Dues
• What the CGSU-UE proposed

Agency Shop

• Contract provision that permits unit members to choose between either becoming Union Members or paying an “agency fee” for the representation by the Union.
• Agency fee is usually an amount just slightly below full membership dues.

Beck Objector

• Based on 1988 Supreme Court decision, the right of any unit member – even in a Union Shop – to object to paying any fees or dues other than those related to collective bargaining (e.g., such as political activities).
• CGSU-UE proposal does not mention this right.

Answer: Generally, “dues” refers to union dues – or the amount a unit member pays to remain a member of the union. “Fees” often refers to “agency fees” (also called “representational” or “fair share” fees). For unit members in a workplace covered by an Agency Shop clause, an agency fee is the amount the unit member still has to pay to cover the union’s costs related to collective bargaining, contract administration, and grievance handling. An Open Shop union security provision permits unit members to choose to pay neither union dues nor agency fees.

In some cases, “fees” may also refer to “initiation fees” that unions charge to join.

Answer: Unions’ primary source of revenues is collecting dues from members. Unions charge dues to their members to fund the operations of the union. Dues can range in amount. Each union establishes its own dues formula, but they are typically up to 2% of the students’ total compensation. Unions may also charge an initiation fee. Agency fee amounts are set by the union, but are typically close to, though slightly less than, the amount of union dues.

Answer: Yes. Although students cannot be forced to join a union, any who have a classification that falls within the bargaining unit will be bound by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. This is true whether or not the student becomes a member of the union, pays an agency fee or, if the parties agree to an open shop, the student chooses to neither join the union nor pay an agency fee. Many graduate student collective bargaining agreements make membership in the union or the payment of agency fees an explicit condition of continued employment for academic appointments (such as for TA and RA positions).

The union has a duty to fairly represent everyone in the bargaining unit regardless of union membership status.

Answer: No. Collective bargaining agreements at our Ivy+ peer institutions have open shop and agency shop provisions.

Both Columbia University and Harvard University have open shop provisions, permitting their graduate students to freely choose whether, or not, to join or financially support the union.

Other universities have agency shop provisions. For example, the collective bargaining agreements reached between United Electrical (UE) and Johns Hopkins University and the University of Chicago all contain agency shop provisions.

The agreements between the UE and MIT and the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Caltech contain unique approaches. In both of those institutions, the parties were able to agree to provisions that maintained graduate students’ ability to pursue their studies and make a free and fair choice, while still agreeing to a modified agency shop provision.

At MIT, if a student does not pay union dues or an agency fee, their appointment ends one-week early each quarter.

At Caltech, if a student does not pay union dues or an agency fee, they are required to make a philanthropic donation.