Be Informed - Computer Science TA Unionization

Be Informed - Computer Science TA Unionization

An election to form a union for collective bargaining of employment terms for undergraduate teaching assistants in Brown University’s Department of Computer Science was held on March 2, 2023.

While final certification of the outcome will not occur until all valid ballots are counted and any election-related disputes are resolved, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which oversaw the election, tallied the results and reported that with a vote of 303 to 28, the majority of the electorate voted in favor of unionization. Upon the NLRB’s certification of this outcome, the University will recognize GLO as the exclusive representative of Computer Science teaching assistants in the bargaining unit on employment matters. Read more about updates to the election and bargaining on the Updates page of this website.

Background

On December 8, 2022, a group of undergraduate teaching assistants in the Department of Computer Science wrote to the University’s executive leadership seeking recognition as a union, the Teaching Assistant Labor Organization (TALO). TALO is affiliated with the Graduate Labor Organization (GLO) at Brown.

Consistent with the position the University has taken when presented with similar unionization requests in the past, the University referred TALO to the appropriate petition process with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to initiate an election process. Brown received the petition for election from the NLRB on January 12, 2023.

This website serves as a resource for the Brown community regarding the March election. The University expressed its commitment to communicating accurate and factual information to eligible voters in the time period leading up to the election.

What We Value

We believe that a union election is a critical and inclusive step to take for any community of individuals interested in forming a union. All students who would be impacted by the formation of a union and a collective bargaining agreement should have an opportunity to directly exercise their vote in favor of or in opposition to unionization.

Collective Bargaining

This page outlines the basics on collective bargaining and the election process, organized through the National Labor Relations Board, by which eligible bargaining units can choose to be represented by a union.

Frequently Asked Questions

These FAQs offer information on the history of student collective bargaining at Brown, the election process to form a union, common questions about collective bargaining, and the potential implications of unionization.