On August 17th the New Mexico PELRB ruled that graduate employees are public employees and eligible to collectively bargain under the state's Public Employee Bargaining Act. The UNM community will be rallying September 3rd at 11am between the SUB and Mesa Vista calling on the UNM Administration to respect this ruling and begin negotiations as swiftly as possible.

We, the undersigned faculty, ask the UNM administration to recognize and collectively bargain with the graduate employee union—the United Graduate Workers of UNM (UGW). An overwhelming majority of graduate workers legally authorized UGW to represent them last fall, yet the UNM adminstration has yet to come to the bargaining table. We call on the UNM administration to respect graduate employees' decision to unionize and to bargain with UGW over pay, working conditions, and benefits.

Our university would not be able to operate without the valuable labor that the 1,600 graduate employees at UNM contribute. According to UGW’s Bargaining Survey Report, graduate teaching assistants are the primary instructor of record for over 19% of courses taught at UNM. In addition, graduate teaching assistants advise students, write recommendation letters, assist faculty in grading, lead discussion sections, and much more. It is likely that very few undergraduates graduate from UNM without having been taught or graded by a graduate teaching assistant. Furthermore, the important research that we produce at UNM—research that improves our communities and advances our understanding of the world—would not be possible without the hundreds of graduate research assistants who contribute to research projects across the university.

Over 64,000 graduate workers at public universities across the country are represented by a union. Graduate assistants are unionized at many of the top public R1 universities in the country, including University of California, University of Michigan, University of Oregon, University of Iowa, and the University of Florida. These universities have thriving research and education programs in large part because of the contributions of unionized graduate teaching and research assistants. Graduate students at unionized universities report feeling more supported, having more work satisfaction, and having better relationships with their faculty advisors and mentors. A graduate employee union at UNM will make UNM better, not worse, as it gives graduate assistants the opportunity to advocate for their needs and to thrive in their teaching, research, and lives.

Graduate employees at UNM are some of the lowest paid educators in the state. The minimum stipend at UNM for a graduate teaching assistant working a half-time appointment is lower than every unionized institution in the country. The UNM Basic Needs Report has shown that almost 22% of graduate students are food insecure and over 35% of graduate students are housing insecure. Furthermore, UGW’s Spring 2021 Bargaining Survey Report showed that 65% of surveyed graduate workers reported delaying medical care due to the cost of care. As pay and benefits at UNM lag behind peer and unionized institutions and many struggle to access adequate housing and meals, graduate workers deserve the right to advocate for their needs through the process of collective bargaining.

As an R1 university, UNM’s mission is to produce valuable research and provide the highest quality education to undergraduates from across the state, country, and world. We know that the working conditions of graduate assistants are our undergraduate students’ learning conditions. Graduate assistants are simply asking for a seat at the table and a say in the decisions that affect their lives. We ask the UNM administration to respect graduate assistants’ decision to unionize and bargain with UGW so that we can continue providing a high-quality education and produce innovative research that advances our society and improves our communities.

Sincerely,


CHRISTIAN KOOPS, DEPT OF LINGUISTICS
Sherman Wilcox, Distinguished Professor Emeritus Linguistics
Rosa Vallejos, Linguistics
Melissa Axelrod, Linguistics
David Correia, American Studies
Rebecca Schreiber, American Studies
Dawn Nordquist, Linguistics
James L Boone, Anthropology
Alyosha Goldstein, American Studies
Joan L Bybee, Linguistics
Kathleen Holscher, American Studies
Melanie K. Yazzie, Native American Studies and American Studies
Erin Wilkinson, Linguistics
Barbara Shaffer, Linguistics
Professor William Croft, Linguistics
Gail T Houston, English Department
Andrea L Mays, American Studies/Women Gender & Sexuality Studies
Christena Griffin, SLIP/Linguistics
Leslie Donovan, Honors College
Kathryn Wichelns, Associate Professor, English
Cristyn L. Elder, Associate Professor, Rhetoric and Writing, English
Peter Worland, Earth and Planetary Science
Meggan Gould, Art
Sarah Hernandez, English
Michael A. Ryan, History
David Stout, Law
David Witherington, Psychology
Megan Osborne, Biology
Andrea Polli, Art
David Hart Lewis, Department of Special Education
Amanda Lujan, Linguistics
Manel Martinez-Ramon, Electrical and computer engineering
Robert F. Jefferson Jr., History
Troy Lovata, Honors College
Keri Stevenson, Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, Gallup Branch
Maria Szasz, Honors College
Lorenzo F. Garcia Jr., Foreign Languages and Literatures
Aaron Cayer, Architecture
Shinsuke Eguchi, Communication & Journalism
Naomi Shin, Linguistics and Spanish & Portuguese
Elizabeth James, Honors College
Mark Morgan-Tracy, Physics and Astronomy
Owen Whooley, Sociology
Katrin Schroeter, Foreign Languages & Literatures
Christopher Witt, Biology
Szu-Han Ho, Art
Jessica Goodkind, Sociology
Kimberly Gauderman, History
Colin Olson, Sociology
Nahir Otano Gracia, English
Holly Guise, History
Evan Ashworth, Communication and Journalism
José L. Palacios, ECE
Elizabeth Cooper, University Libraries
Katherine Ulrich, Religious Studies
Lindsay Worthington, Earth and Planetary Sciences
Jesus Costantino, English Language and Literature
Deborah R. McFarlane, Political Science
Beth Davila, English
Margaret Connell-Szasz, History
Claudia B Isaac, Community & Regional Planning
Karen Gaudreault, Health Exercise and Sport Sciences
Belinda Deneen Wallace, ENGL
Dr. Paul J. Watson, Biology
Deborah Fort, Film and Digital Arts
Llewelynn Fletcher, Art
Osbjorn Pearson, Anthropology
Claudia Diaz Fuentes, Economics
Lisa D. Chavez, English
Dominika Laster, Theatre and Dance
Phillip Glass, Mathematics and Statistics
Carman Melendrez, Faculty Research Development Office
Ryan Kelly, Individual, Family and Community Education
Kate Cartwright, School of Public Administration
Mark W McKnight, Art
Renee Faubion, Honors College
Julianne Fontenoy, Gallup FAHSS
Dave Keating, Communication & Journalism
Myrriah Gomez, Honors College
Kristina Jacobsen, Music and Anthropology
Holly Surbaugh, University Libraries
Debbie Luffey, IFCE
Lorna Brau, FLL
Lisa Myers, English
Matthias Pleil, Mechanical Engineering
Michael Andersen, Biology
Ana June, English Department, UNM-Valencia
Jon Wheeler, University Libraries
Anthony Salvagno, NSMS
Julia Scherba de Valenzuela, Special Education
Amy L Brandzel, American Studies & Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies
Gary Cook, Art, UNM-Taos
Carmen Julia Holguin, Spanish and Portuguese
Jennifer Tucker, Community and Regional Planning
Dominika Laster, Theatre and Dance
R. Lee Montgomery, Art
Paul Livingston, Philosophy
Sarah Davis-Secord, History
Matthew D. Mingus, Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (UNM-Gallup)
Todd Quinn, University Libraries
Ana G. Hernández Gonzalez, Spanish and Portuguese
Billy Brown, Mathematics and Statistics
J Stuart Smith, Theater and Dance
Greg Barnett, Mathematics - Valencia
Matias Fontenla, Economics
Samantha Ruscavage-Barz, School of Law
Mozafar Banihashemi, Religious Studies
Jonatha Kottler, Honors College
Jennifer Laws, School of Law
Nina Fonoroff, Film and Digital Arts
Brianna Figueroa, Theatre & Dance
Samuel Truett, History
Catherine Hubka, Chemical and Biological Engineering & English Language and Literature
Kathryn McKnight, Spanish & Portuguese
Pratap Khattri, Economics
Lisa Broidy, Sociology
Jeremy E. Baker, Sociology
Sue Taylor, Social Sciences, Valencia Campus
David Prior, History
Shannon Withycombe, History
Tyler Mackey, Earth and Planetary Sciences
Melissa Axelrod , Linguistics
Michael Trujillo, American Studies and Chicanx Studies
Kelly Becker, Philosophy
Gabriel Fries-Briggs, Architecture
Ann Murphy, Philosophy
Elizabeth Elia, Law
Renia Ehrenfeucht, Community and Regional Planning
Eric Lindsey, Earth and Planetary Sciences
Katherine Massoth, History
Susana Martínez Guillem, Communication & journalism
Ray Hernández-Durán, Art
Peninah D. Wolpo , Classics
Joshua Birchall, Linguistics
Lisa Barrow, Biology
Kari L Schleher, Anthropology
Adrian Johnston, Philosophy
Tiffany Florvil, History
Mitch Marty, English
Eleuterio Santiago-Díaz, Spanish and Portuguese
Sarah Townsend, English
Stephen Bishop, For. Langs. & Lits.
Noell Stone, College of Population Health
Ernesto Longa , School of Law Library
Elizabeth González Cárdenas, Chicana Chicano Studies
Satya Witt, Biology