In late February, the university walked away from the table and canceled several days of bargaining after UAF students went to Juneau to gain funding for the university’s pursuit of R1 status. Achieving R1 status benefits the university because it attracts more funding. To achieve R1 status, the university must graduate a certain number of PhD students each year. The university is not meeting that number because it struggles to recruit, retain, and support students.

On Friday, October 13, graduate students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) began voting on whether or not they want to unionize. Unionization is a word most commonly heard in the world of business and is related to the organization of workers. Unions negotiate contracts with employers in order to improve working conditions, increase pay, and better employees’ lives.

There is a unionization effort going on at UAF. Aaron takes a dive into unionization, and gives his opinion on whether or not you should support the effort.