FAQ

The MIT union covers grad student workers that are exclusively paid as TAs (teaching assistants) or RAs (research assistants) by MIT. This means that anyone paid through a WHOI grant (i.e. any grad worker that is paid solely from a WHOI advisor), is not included in MIT’s union. We formed the WHOI GSU after seeing the power of organizing at MIT, and recognizing that there are issues unique to the JP that would not make sense to arbitrate through MIT’s union.

You are in the MIT union if you are paid as a TA or RA by MIT; if your advisor is based exclusively at MIT and you are not on fellowship, you are most likely part of the MIT union. If this does not describe your situation, you are most likely in the WHOI union - we are currently fighting for the inclusion of fellows to our bargaining unit - which will differ from the currently defined unit of the MIT union.

The stipend provided for JP students is one of the highest in the nation, and union organizers recognize this. However, this does not mean that grad workers at WHOI do not face a plethora of other issues that a union is best suited to answer. Our issues campaigns include recourse for discrimination and harrassment, particularly from one’s advisor, with defined pathways to switch advisors during the course of tenure in the program. We are also fighting for better protections during field work; WHOI in particular sees a higher proportion of grad workers conducting field work and as such it is critical that there are adequate protections in place against both discrimination and harassment in the field, as well as protections for physical health and safety. We also are working to address the unique struggles of housing on the Cape, as well as transit to and from Cambridge. The GSU also recognizes that many students leave the JP with only positive things to say about the program and their advisor, and we celebrate this! However, we want to ensure that every student leaving the program can say this, and to do that we must stand together.

WHOI admin have claimed that they are denying the inclusion of fellows in accordance with the regional NLRB ruling that generally states “fellows primary responsibilities are to make forward progress on their PhD, and they should have no work duties.” While each member of the JP knows that this is untrue in practice - fellows contribute significantly to WHOI, not only to their own PhD progress - WHOI has maintained this stance despite evidence to the contrary and community support (e.g. the solidarity letter signed by over 200 members of the WHOI community).

Unionization efforts for a WHOI specific GSU started in late 2022, and we have been working since then towards a union that includes ALL grad workers WHOI, specifically fellows (see above). In March of 2023 the northeastern regional NLRB ruled that fellows at MIT were not workers, leading to further internal discussion both with organizers and fellow JP students at WHOI.

We determined we could not accept a union that did not include fellows, who make up ~50% of the grad population at any given time, with many moving fluidly between fellowships and other funding sources. In May, the Bargaining Committee (BC) was elected; we began communications with WHOI about the voluntary inclusion of fellows to the bargaining unit, given the high proportion of students on fellowship and the differing structure of work at WHOI vs. MIT. On June 8th WHOI admin offered a recognition agreement where the inclusion of fellows could be used as a bargaining chip. Throughout the summer we continued to organize around this issue and put pressure on WHOI, culminating in a resounding rejection of this proposal by JP students who voted 87-2 to REJECT a voluntary recognition agreement that did not include fellows. The BC delivered this result to admin, and in early September we submitted a counter recognition agreement, based on the one utilized by the UC system, including Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which voluntary recognizes fellows. We hope that WHOI recognizes in order to keep up with peer institutions and show students they are serious about our well-being, that they will recognize fellows as workers SOON. Talk to a union organizer if you want to learn more or get involved in this important fight!

Belonging to a national union brings many benefits to each local chapter of the union - access to legal aid and experienced organizers being chief amongst those benefits. The United Electrical Workers Union (UE) was determined after extensive research to be the most appropriate union to partner with by MIT grad student workers in 2019, and was selected based on a democratic vote. You can read more on the MIT GSU website’s FAQ page, but in summary, UE was selected because it has a focus on rank and file organizing, issues-oriented campaigns, and because they are willing to fight hard for their members. This has been highlighted by the regional NLRB decision to exclude fellows from the MIT union - the UE legal team is hard at work bringing this to the national level to ensure that fellows are included and this dangerous precedent does not stand.

Regrettably, no. Navy students are paid by the military, and not by WHOI. We’re still hoping to advocate for our Navy students during the recognition process so that they may be included in any benefits the WHOI GSU wins.

For public updates, you can follow our Twitter (@WHOIGradUnion) and Instagram (@WHOIGradUnion)!

If you are a student, we communicate mainly through the MIT-WHOI Slack, join the #gsu-updates channel. We discuss things in more depth there and you’ll get more messages from that channel.

Join our weekly meetings, every Wednesday at 4pm (in person at WHOI and on zoom)!

As a student, you are probably subscribed to the whoi-gsu@mit.edu email listserv, too. We use this for larger blanket emails; we were using the jp-all and jp-all-students listservs before, but not everyone needs to see union emails; for example, some JP students are covered by the MIT bargaining unit (absolutely welcome at union events, though)! If you’re reading this and not subscribed to whoi-gsu@mit.edu and you want to be, contact an organizer/rep and we’ll hook you up.

These and many other questions are answered in the MIT GSU FAQ! It’s a well-written resource, and most questions can be answered there. Anything not covered there? Ask a rep on Slack or by email or in person!