Johns Hopkins graduate students file to create 3,300-person union

Johns Hopkins University graduate students have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to create a union, an important step toward a union election. As part of the push to unionize an estimated 3,335 Hopkins graduate students under the Teachers and Researchers United (TRU) banner, the group looks to join United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Organizers filed the petition on Dec. 2 and plan to host a union election next semester. The organizers hope to provide a minimum yearly stipend of at least $40,000 a year to workers, ensure on-time payments, make reforms to the grievance process and provide visa assistance for international students and other changes to create better working conditions for graduate students. The group would represent students who currently provide instructional and research services to the Baltimore institution.