About Us

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We are a collective of graduate assistant (GA) employees—including PhD and MS/MA teaching, research, and administrative assistants—organizing for a more just, democratic, and safe workplace and community at the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park (Piscataway land), as well as all campuses in the University System of Maryland (USM). We’re fighting for a unionized university that serves the public.

Anna Emenheiser

phd Research assistant, Biophysics

My research focuses on understanding how the brain operates on an intermediate level between individual cells and the whole brain, including characterizing a new model for Alzheimer’s Disease. I know first hand that graduate workers do incredibly valuable research. Yet when I raised the concern that we are not paid enough (especially considering the cost of living in this area) the Dean of CMNS responded by pointing out that many graduate workers will have high-paying jobs after graduation. How does this help us afford rent and groceries now? Collective bargaining through our union is the only way to win higher salaries, as well as many other demands. It is clear that the administration is not sufficiently motivated to solve these issues without the leverage that a union gives us.

Nicholas Gallagher

PhD Research Assistant, UMD Center for Environmental Science

I study how you can use algae to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and thus mitigate global warming. The assertion that graduate workers are part-time employees is not only false, but is absolutely meaningless as an argument against unionization. When I was in high school and undergrad, I worked part-time and was a union member, so I know it’s possible. I support a family of three on my graduate work income. We deserve to be recognized as workers and trusted to make decisions about our own working conditions.

Cole Shultz

Masters Graduate worker, Community planning

My name is Cole Shultz and I am a Master’s student in the Masters of Community Planning Program. My research on the housing crisis in Maryland has confirmed my own lived experience and the stories of others – that our basic need for shelter has grown so far out of reach and our university needs to support the workers who make it run by increasing stipends to a level where we can actually afford rent. This is only possible with a union that has collective bargaining power – without such an organization, we find ourselves in our current dire straits. Let’s change our reality through our collective strength.

Sloan Landsdale

PhD Graduate worker, Government and Politics

My name is Sloan Landsdale and I study government and politics. I teach classes on research methods to undergraduate students, grade papers for Master’s students, and conduct my own research. But the stipend the university gives me is not enough to support myself. When my car broke down, I had to choose between fixing it, paying rent, and affording groceries. I and my fellow grad workers are the beating heart of the university, yet our demands for better treatment have not been heard. Coming together as a union will give us the power to improve our conditions and get a fair contract.

Spencer Lewis

PhD Graduate worker, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics 

My research aims to identify the regulatory mechanisms that allow the pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes to overcome excess heme stress during invasive infections. I support forming a union because I am tired of workers across America getting screwed over. With regards to UMD, the work and research conducted by graduate students significantly contributes to the merit the university holds, yet we see little compensation. When we question this, we are told, “That’s the reality of graduate school, just tough it out.” WRONG! The university doesn’t want to pay us fairly. If we want to ensure all graduate students are fairly compensated for their labor and protected from abusive working conditions, we must form a union. 

Anjali Verma

PhD Graduate worker, Biophysics

I’m Anjali, a PhD graduate worker in the Biophysics program. I work on machine learning methods to predict RNA structure and the dynamics of small peptides. I’m joining the union because I want higher wages and improved benefits for international students and I think that a union is the most effective way to win those things!

Zuzanna Kocjan

PhD Graduate worker, Astronomy

Hi! I’m Zuzanna, a PhD Astronomy student. In my research, I study galaxy evolution and star formation using hydrodynamical simulations. As an international student, I strongly believe that joining a graduate labor union provides us with higher job security, helps us build more worker power at the university and allows us to advocate for our (both employee and student!) rights. Having a legal body that can represent us in conversations with UMD is crucial to improve our working and living conditions, which also affect the quality of the work we produce.
We need to unionize and we need to do it now – let’s get our voices heard!

Akshaya Ganesh

PhD Graduate worker, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics

I’m Akshaya, a Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics PhD candidate. My research studies inflammation and innate immune signalling in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected macrophages. I want to form a union to be able to advocate for student rights, and increase in quality of life, in an actionable and meaningful way.

Riley Lankes

PhD Graduate Assistant, Information studies

There’s a crisis facing higher education, and we can’t face it alone. Free speech and academic freedom are threatened. Our international student colleagues are incredibly vulnerable. Hundreds of millions of dollars are invested in research, research that we as graduate workers make possible, and yet many of us struggle to pay rent.

Only together can we face this crisis. With union recognition, we can stand united. With union recognition, we can fight together for fair pay. With union recognition, we can demand our rights with one voice.

Marlen Toktomamatov

PHd Teaching Assistant, Chemistry and Biochemistry

I study how different proteins interact with cellular membranes. The fun part of my research is that I don’t need any chemicals or glassware — it’s done on a computer! Unfortunately, it also makes NSF think that if don’t do lab work, we don’t even need to get paid! Being an international graduate worker puts you in very vulnerable position — there is no legal body that represents you rights and you are in constant fear of going broke in a foreign country. That’s why I think all international students should support GLU! Having a representative organisation that is independent of the employer is fundamental for protecting workers’ rights.

Jack Lewis

PHd Instructor of Record, Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership

UMD brags about spending $100 million on AI over the next decade while grad workers like me are teaching college courses and struggling to pay rent and bills. Supposedly public universities spend big on the projects of the ruling class, but cry poor when its employees demand the bare minimum. Changing this pattern demands we take the university back and kick corporate influence and authoritarian aggression off our campuses. We make that happen by building our collective power and making our voices impossible for UMD to ignore. We need union recognition because it’s our best opportunity to intervene in the crisis facing higher ed, and because it’s past time we got a raise.

Nathalie Bonin

PhD graduate worker, Computer Science
Our current admins don’t have a grasp of the current hardships felt by graduate students. Their unwillingness to recognize GAs as workers is reflective of their refusal to engage in sincere discussions with grad workers concerning department-level issues or international students. As such, the only way to make them listen to us is to form a union that will actively strive for the improvements of living and working conditions.

Yash Gursahani

PhD Graduate worker, Astronomy

My research focuses on the high-energy astrophysical phenomena that occur around supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. As an undergraduate, I bore witness to one of the largest academic strikes in the nation’s history: the University of California strike at the end of 2022. I saw firsthand the power of an organized graduate workforce and its capacity to effect real change. It was inspiring to see students demanding livable wages and acceptable working conditions. I would never wish for a strike of similar scale at UMD, but forming a union gives us a voice; a way to combat threatening policies from university administration. A union will result in a stronger and more productive graduate student body at UMD.

Cody Norton

Phd instructor of record, teaching, learning, policy & leadership

UMD thrives off our physical and intellectual labor while treating us as expendable numbers in its insatiable hunger for profit and prestige. Grad workers are the faces behind all the accolades and innovation, but administrators silence us and barely acknowledge our demands in their insulting PR statements about unity, kindness, and appreciation. But we know our worth and demand that the university recognize our union so we can negotiate our pay, working conditions, and futures. In a political climate that disappears and dehumanizes students without cause, solidarity is both our shield and strength. This is why I’m marching for recognition. Union together. Union strong. Union forever.

Ali harding

PhD Graduate worker, Information studies

No matter how many times admin says otherwise, they treat us as employees first so we deserve to be compensated as such.

Caspar popova

PhD Research fellow, Computer science

I switched from TA to fellowship funding over the summer. I was supposed to be paid monthly starting July 1, but didn’t receive my pay until July 24. I was given no explanation for the delay, which has been worsened by some administrative confusion over the tuition reimbursement for my fellowship. I don’t know why this happened now, because the contract for my fellowship was settled a year ago. I know of at least 15 people in the computer science department who missed paychecks for various reasons. That’s why we need to stand up to win our union this academic year!

Ethan Lee

Phd Graduate worker, Nutrition and Food Science

I’m Ethan and my area of focus is food chemistry and seeing how cooking changes the nutritional value of foods! Unions are the backbone of a functional work environment. The University has made it abundantly clear that they are uninterested in giving us the basic resources to live in the DMV area, so it is upon us to demand it. No real social change has even been brought about with action.

Theresa Menna

PhD Graduate worker, Entomology
I use methods in genomics and bioinformatics to characterize the genetic basis for host preference in the Northern house mosquito, Culex pipiens. I emphatically support the union because all graduate workers are workers, and we deserve livable wages regardless of the discipline we work in. Why would you trust that your employer has your best interests at heart, when their top priorities as a business are raising profits and cutting costs? Collective bargaining is the most powerful tool we have to protect ourselves and out interests. Let’s use it.

Victoria Fernandez

PhD instructor of record, teaching, learning, policy & Leadership

Figuring out my summer pay was incredibly stressful and confusing – and it shouldn’t have to be this way. However, the largest reason I want a union is for us to negotiate more reasonable GAship hours. Being an Instructor Teacher of Record and a Teaching Assistant are NOT the same – yet we are given the same 10 hours a week for it. So many of us, especially in education, are teaching full classes for 10 hours of pay that require for way more than 10 hours work. Supervisors I work with do the best to support me, but they can only do so much. The only way forward is a union contract.

Yu-Chi Hou

Graduate Worker, Mathematics (Geometry)

A union would bolster the financial resilience of graduate students and offer a platform to address our working conditions and policy concerns. Instead of relying on the administration’s favor, collective bargaining enables us to proactively advocate for our rights. As UMD’s backbone, our collective voice needs to be heard, and we deserve a seat at the table. This is possible only when we unite. 

Andrea Gutmann Fuentes

PHd graduate worker, History

My history research looks at the relationships between organized labor movements in the U.S. and Chile in the 1960s and 1970s, and how these relationships were structured by systems of capitalism and empire. I am fighting for a union for UMD graduate students because without our labor, the university would cease to function. We deserve a union that can improve our working conditions and provide fair compensation for the work that we do for this university. A better quality of life for graduate student workers will not only benefit graduate students— it will also benefit our students, our research, and our entire university community.

Isabel Shaheen

phd graduate worker, Public Policy

All workers should have the right to negotiate a fair contract. 

JP Fetherston

phd Teaching Assistant, History (Early Americanist)

I support the formation of a graduate students union at Maryland for all of the immediate and pressing concerns of, among many others, securing collective bargaining and liveable wages, but I am particularly driven by the broader principles at stake in this struggle: to demand and receive recognition of our essential labor for what it is, and to always keep working towards a more democratic workplace.

Alvin Cheung

phd research assistant, Atmospheric and Oceanic Science

I am currently applying machine learning techniques to study how and when tropical cyclones form. I support forming a graduate student union because a union would allow students to bargain collectively for a livable wage in the DMV area, notoriously known for high living costs. The daily operations of the university, including research and academics are reliant on the work of graduate students. A union would provide accountability in determining a livable and competitive wage for the university’s critical employees.

Collin Vincent

PhD graduate worker, Chemistry and BiochemistrY

I think forming a union is one of the most important actions a worker can take to fight exploitation, and to ensure fairness in employment. As a chemistry student earning an advanced degree, I am expected to put in 50-60 hours a week, yet am only paid for 20 hours a week. The university depends on us graduate students to run a significant portion of classes, discussion sections, and labs, yet we are not treated as the vital employees that we are. The only way to ensure we are fairly compensated is by coming together to protect each other, and utilize strikes and collective bargaining to force the university to treat us better.

Norma Peña-Flores

PhD graduate worker, Neuroscience and Cognitive Science

My research centers on identifying biological predictors of loneliness, a growing social epidemic that increases the risk for disease and mortality among those affected. The virulence of loneliness has been aggravated by the erosion of institutions that used to provide spaces for robust social connections to form. Labor unions are one of those institutions. At UMD, lacking a graduate labor union is putting the mental and physical wellbeing of graduate workers at risk. Graduate student workers -regardless of citizenship status- should have the right to be part of a union that protects them from exploitation, undignified living conditions and provides a safe space for solidarity and community to develop. UMD needs to step up and meet the rights of its graduate workers to form a union if it wants to reap the benefits of a successful and healthy graduate workforce.

Nate Beard

phd Graduate Worker, College of Information Studies

I research the social and political impacts of internet and algorithmic technologies in the College of Information Studies, and I teach undergraduate classes on ethical and policy aspects of science and technology in the engineering school. Grads make UMD work on a daily basis, and help fulfill the university’s mission to serve the public and benefit society by producing innovative research and providing excellent learning experiences for students. But we can’t do this to the best of our ability when we lack living wages, secure jobs, adequate benefits, and protections against harassment and abuse. This is why I support forming a union: we deserve dignity, living wages, and a democratic voice in our working conditions in order to create inclusive and supportive lab and classroom environments.

Charles Reisner

phd Graduate Worker, Astronomy

I’ve been in academia for a short time, but long enough to see people get the rug pulled out from under them. I’ve heard too many stories of students barely being able to afford rent and groceries all while having to research, TA, and take classes. Most of all, I’ve heard so much uncertainty from grads about whether or not they’ll have funding in light of recent budget cuts to science. The missing element to all of these stories is support from the university — support that I believe the administration is more than capable of providing. This is why the time is now to unionize and why I’ll continue to fight for it.

Jermain McDermott

PhD graduate worker, Mathematics

I study arithmetic dynamical systems to better understand prime divisors of sequences over general number fields. I’m also a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the math department here, and have taught courses ranging from Precalculus all the way to Linear Algebra. As an essential arm of the university, we need to exercise our right to unionize. Self-determination is one of the USA’s founding principles, with collective bargaining resting squarely on this fact. With great deference to the successes of the Labor movement as a whole, I strongly support the effort towards the creation of a union of researchers.

Ryan Synk

phd Graduate Worker, Computer Science

Too often, graduate students are misled into suffering the abuses of a toxic workplace environment under the guise that “graduate school is difficult.” As individuals, we are powerless against the faculty that overworks us and the administration which repeatedly denies our dignity by refusing to give us a living wage. Together, as a union, we can collectively get the rights we deserve.

Alexander M. Dunphy

PhD graduate worker, History

My goal for pursuing a PhD in history was to explore the countless courageous efforts of everyday people banding together to fight for justice, security, and dignity. In the years since I began my studies, I have not only studied these struggles, but had the privilege to be part of such an effort. Graduate workers are overworked, underpaid, and precarious. We lack medical or family leave, we are vulnerable due to our immigration status, we have no assistance for child care, we are at the whims of abusive supervisors, and we face racial, gender, and sexual discrimination. Graduate workers face a massive power imbalance when dealing with their employers and we lack any meaningful legal protections or means of redress. The only solution to the problems graduate workers face is for us to band together and act collectively. That is why we need a union; that is why we are fighting for a union; and that is why we will win a union.

Brandon Kolstoe

Phd Research Assistant, Mathematics 

I am a graduate student in the math department studying pure and applied harmonic analysis. Through my experiences, I know that graduate students are absolutely essential for both teaching and research, the primary goals of the University of Maryland. However, this importance is not matched by our compensation, which is quite low relative to comparable institutions. A union will help us to fight collectively for higher wages to honor the time and effort we are committing to educating students and expanding the collective knowledge of our fields.

Bryson Clifford

PhD graduate worker, Materials Science & Engineering 

Your experience as a graduate student at UMD can vary drastically. I’ve seen competent, intelligent people burn out and lose hope in academia due to unequitable pressures. International students are treated more harshly than domestic students because there is an unspoken but implied threat that their visa can be revoked, graduate students in general are not paid a livable nor competitive wage but are expected to work overtime past 40 hours per week, no subsidized graduate housing is offered, the university places strong emphasis on entrepreneurial start-ups by professors who in turn guide their students’ research in the start-up’s favor, ETC. Without formal regulation we are left at the mercy of our department and ultimately our advisor. This is why I support a graduate union at UMD. We should all be treated fairly and as human beings or the university doesn’t deserve us at all. 

Kasey Vangelov

PhD Graduate worker, Public Policy

I support forming a union among graduate students so that we have collective bargaining rights. College Park is in the top 4% of most expensive cities in the world. As the cost of living in College Park increases and fewer affordable housing options are available, it is important to address grad workers’ low wages.

Maeve Wildes

PhD Teaching Assistant, Applied Mathematics and Scientific Computation

I am a Ph.D. student in the AMSC program studying partial differential equations. A union will provide us with the ability to advocate for ourselves, leading to a safer and more supportive working environment. A union would be the best way to ensure that graduate workers in all departments feel that they are receiving fair compensation and treatment.

Joshua Lucker

Phd Teaching and Research Assistant, Biophysics

Over the years that I have been here, I have experienced multiple issues that could have been easily resolved with the presence of a graduate student union. This includes troubles getting and using accommodations from ADS, being overworked during my TA experiences (my first year, I was expected to be grading 80 lab reports per week along with 4 hours of office hours a week with frequent TA meetings and proctoring. This was ON TOP of my classes and research that I was expected to excel in. I have had multiple professors even tell me that this was too much, but I could not bring this up with the department without the risk of losing my TAship line), issues with my past advisor and being kicked out of his lab with no warning, issues finding a new advisor when the university ombudsman told me that he could no longer help me after 6 months and that I was on my own, and recently, being denied health insurance by the university and having to get some outside of the university. These issues are unfortunately not isolated to me, as many other graduate students have had similar or even worse experiences to these with their time at the university.

ariel balaban

Phd teaching and research assistant, School of public health

Having a graduate labor union means recognizing the interconnectedness of student well-being and institutional support. A union is a step towards mutual aid—when we as graduate employees can negotiate for our own benefits and protections, we can more actively contribute to the university and foster relationships based on equity rather than uneven power dynamics.

Nico Dominguez

Phd research assistant, Economics

It is shocking to see how fellow grad students at similar schools (public schools, similar ranking as UMD) get full health insurance for them and their families, and *zero* charge in fees. Once you find out that those schools have strong grad workers unions, you realize admins won’t pay living wages unless they *have to*. Grad workers unions across the US have negotiated and won better working conditions. UMD can’t be the exception anymore.

Greg Babić

PhD research assistant, physics

My first year at UMD was filled with issues not at all relating to research: a bad housing situation, issues setting up health insurance, and mistakes getting me on payroll. Resolving these issues was not trivial; I was kicked around by offices like a soccer ball. The only reason many of these issues were resolved was my persistence and my advisor. His exact words to me were, “Grad school is hard enough. You shouldn’t have to deal with this s***.” But I know few grad workers are lucky enough to have such a caring advisor. This is why we as grad workers need a union: to advocate for better compensation, conditions, and a university designed for us to succeed in our work. For a union, all grad workers need to partake; it won’t happen unless WE put in the effort to make it happen. All workers deserve fair compensation and working conditions, and higher education should be no different.

Sergio A. García Mejía

PhD Graduate Worker, Civil Engineering, Disaster Resilience

I am an international student. Student unionization is essential to help protect international students who are more vulnerable due to a lack of support networks and cultural knowledge of how universities in the U.S. work and how to navigate through them.

Victoria Whitley

Phd graduate worker, Applied Mathematics and Statistics

My research is in computational fluid dynamics and physical oceanography, and I teach math courses such as calculus or algebra to UMD undergraduates. The hours, work load, and compensation in these positions are extremely variable and entirely dependent on the course chair, research PI, or department. We are often called assistants, yet can carry the workload and responsibilities of a full time lecturer, without the same benefits or pay. Having collective bargaining rights would allow us to advocate for better working conditions and benefits, creating fair and transparent policies for all workers.

Vasanth Pidaparthy

PhD Teaching Assistant, Mathematics (Differential Geometry)

I stand alongside my fellow graduate workers in shared pursuit of a better University of Maryland. Together, we can achieve higher wages, improved benefits, and fairer treatment. Our collective efforts are the driving force behind the positive change we envision.

Arpith Shanbhag

PhD teaching assistant, Mathematics

As teaching assistants, we play an indispensable role. The department relies on us to run its coursework and we have the right to demand a fair compensation which keeps up with the increase in prices. With a union we can take collective action against issues that impact all of us and make our demands heard. United we stand!

Amandeep Chanda

PhD Graduate Worker, Mathematical Statistics

All those who work in higher education at public universities in Maryland deserve collective bargaining rights to ensure their own wellbeing. Graduate Students are responsible for shouldering a vast majority of the teaching and research burden here at the University of Maryland, thereby making us the workforce which upholds the promises made by the University. Consequently, we deserve a seat at the table where decisions regarding our wages, benefits, and working conditions are made.

Nora E Jameson

PhD Graduate Worker, EPIdemiology

All workers deserve a living wage and fair bargaining rights to thrive and benefit their workplaces. As a worker in the School of Public Health it is no mystery to me that unions support public health and healthier communities. I plan to represent my Graduate Student Government and School of Public Health to bring about healthier, fairer worker conditions for our great University of Maryland community and school systems.

Max Anthenelli

phd instructor of record, Teaching, Learning, Policy and Leadership

Many people have accepted the narrative that grad school sucks, and that’s just the way things are. That’s bullshit. We deserve to be recognized and compensated as the skilled researchers we are; we should support each other to change this narrative.

Ivy Lyons

phd Graduate Worker, Journalism

A lot of my peers in the graduate program are international students. I know a union would help ensure equitable resources and provide better working conditions than they currently experience. I also deeply believe a union would provide all graduate workers with the compensation they are rightfully owed for lab and teaching work!!

İsmail Coşandal

Phd Teaching Assistant, Electrical and Computer Engineering 

Graduate employees don’t just have the means of production — we are the means of production at this university. We teach, we grade, we research, we publish. Yet we are denied even the most basic recognition as workers. A basic example, we’re charged for campus parking, only to be denied access when events arise, while other employees are exempt from this ridiculous practice.