FAQ
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Who is GROW?
Who is GROW?
We are a collective of graduate assistants employed by Purdue University who demand better working conditions at Purdue, and will get them by unionizing.
What does GROW want?
What does GROW want?
GROW’s membership demands that Purdue:
pay graduate assistants a living wage.
offer better healthcare coverage and cover the cost.
provide affordable and available housing in Greater Lafayette.
eliminate all student fees.
subsidize free transportation on and off campus.
provide affordable childcare.
Unionizing is the most practical proven method to win these changes.
What is unionizing?
What is unionizing?
We form a group of predefined workers—in our case, graduate student assistants employed at Purdue—who use written contracts and/or power in numbers to win better working conditions.
Why aren’t you a union yet?
Why aren’t you a union yet?
Unionization is a process. Here’s what our roadmap looks like:
Get confidential signatures from a supermajority of concurrent graduate assistants (65%) on our letter of intent to unionize.
Conduct a union vote, with help officiating from United Auto Workers (UAW), who we are already affiliated with.
If a majority of graduate assistants (50% + 1) vote “yes” to unionizing, we declare ourselves a union.
We demand that Purdue formally recognize us as a union.
If we are formally recognized, we negotiate a contract with Purdue to solidify the rules of our working relationship, including negotiations with Purdue administrators for better working conditions.
If we are not formally recognized, we take highly secure actions to agitate Purdue administration and withhold our labor to get what we want.
It’s a right-to-work state, so Purdue can fire you for stepping out of line, right?
It’s a right-to-work state, so Purdue can fire you for stepping out of line, right?
Purdue’s grad employment policy states that Purdue “may terminate the employment of any Graduate Student Staff member for Just Cause.” Purdue’s Commitment to Freedom of Expression and the Constitution’s first amendment should not be terminated for doing so.
There are ways to protect ourselves from retaliation.
Signatures on GROW’s letter of intent to unionize and the eventual union vote are confidential, and can only be accessed by leaders elected by GROW membership.
Neutrality agreements with professors assert that they will not report graduate assistants involved in union activities, and class/work cancellations can negate the risk of abandoning work.
Allies from other educational institutions may participate in our activities, obscuring who are participating Purdue employees.
Purdue can’t fire a significant chunk of its workforce without immediate repercussions. Power in numbers is protective.
Anyone vulnerable to an exceptional retaliation has access to GROW, who can act out and fight for their reinstatement.
Aren’t unions and collective bargaining illegal in Indiana?
Aren’t unions and collective bargaining illegal in Indiana?
No. Indiana state law IC 4-15-17-4 prohibits public sector employees from collectively bargaining with their employer, the law only applies to "State" employees, which is listed in IC 4-15-17-3 to exclude "A state education institution": … (b) The term refers to the following: … (5) Purdue University. … in IC 21-7-13-32.
Do unions really work if you won’t be formally recognized?
Do unions really work if you won’t be formally recognized?
Yes, as illustrated by IU Bloomington’s Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition (IGWC): their public marches, petitions, and labor strikes have earned them wage increases, eliminated fees for domestic and international students, obtained healthcare benefits, and more. Purdue's ResLife Organized Workers (ROW) have also won one of their demands—no more rooming RAs with their student residents—without formal recognition.
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