In the hot sun Tuesday, at least a hundred professors, students and other campus workers wore red t-shirts, and held signs in support of two new Virginia Tech unions.
One is United Campus Workers (UCW-VT), which has chapters at the University of Virginia, William & Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University.
The second, Virginia Tech Graduate Labor Union (VT-GLU), is a chapter of the Virginia Education Association.
Rachel Maizel is a 4th year graduate student in the physics department, who was there as part of VT-GLU.
“I was a little nervous at first that people would be apprehensive,” Maizel said. “But I think at this point they’re seeing what we’ve done in the past. They’re seeing people come to the board of visitors and advocate for themselves.”
Recently, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors voted to increase the monthly stipend for graduate students. These actions weren’t part of the unions, but as Maizel said, were stepping stones for the unions to form.
In an emailed response, Mark Owczarski, a spokesperson for Virginia Tech, said the university is committed to offering quote, “a competitive, holistic compensation package to graduate assistants that benefits students and the university.” He also noted that Virginia law restricts the ability of state agencies to engage in collective bargaining.
