Graduate students to vote on unionization

Graduate students will vote on whether to form a union.

The vote is happening Monday and Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the MU Student Center and the Memorial Union.

Right now, the University of Missouri does not recognize graduate assistants as employees. Some graduate students say they are upset by this and want to make sure their rights are protected.

In August, the university announced that it would stop providing health insurance to graduate assistants. While the decision was quickly revoked, it served as a catalyst for unionization and caused graduate assistants to form the Forum on Graduate Rights as an advocacy group.

Today ‘s union representation election will decide if the Coalition of Graduate Workers will essentially become the voice of the graduate assistants.

Regardless of the outcome of the vote, the university says it will still not recognize graduate assistants as employees of the university.