Graduate Employee Unionization as Symbol of and Challenge to the Corporatization of U.S. Research Universities

Breaking the Silence: The Unionization of Postdoctoral Workers at the University of California

“…Perhaps an even larger obstacle is the growing influence of a neoliberal-driven corporate model of the university, one that increasingly sees the university as a business enterprise, and hence, must effectively and efficiently manage its resources, including the people who produce its intellectual products (cantwell, 2009cantwell & Lee, 2010;Rhoades, 1998;Rhoads & Rhoades, 2005;Santos, 2006;slaughter & Rhoades, 2004). Under the norms of the new managerial-ism (Deem, 1998(Deem, , 2001Levin, 2007), and rooted in ideals consistent with neoliberal ideology, postdoctoral workers are a managed resource to be maximized if the university is to operate its knowledge-generating mission at the most efficient levels.…”

“…the administrative opposition is not too surprising given that studies of graduate student unionization revealed similar forms of resistance (Julius & Gumport, 2003;Lee et al, 2004;Rhoads & Rhoades, 2005). Forms of administrative resistance reported by postdoc organizers included prolonging negotiations, verbalizing opposition during contract negotiations, and actively supporting a union decertification effort during the union negotiation process.…”

“…however, critics of the unionization of academic workers tend to subscribe to the idea that the university represents a culture of "academic exceptionalism," a general belief that universities do not constitute the type of labor environment associated with blue-collar workers (where unions traditionally are more active), and hence, lack the need for collective bargaining (Bender & kinkela, 2001, p. 9). it is quite common for critics to argue that unions are detrimental to the collegial culture of academe, but this flies in the face of the obvious managerial shift of universities to more corporatized policies and practices (Deem, 1998(Deem, , 2001Giroux, 2002;Rhoads & Rhoades, 2005).…”

“…hence, the unionization of graduate student employees and adjunct faculty seems a reasonable response to increasing possibilities for the exploitation of their intellectual labor. Along these lines, several scholars noted increased interest in unionization among these populations during the 1990s and early 2000s, viewing such a trend as a form of political resistance and opposition to the corporatization of the university (lafer, 2003;Nelson, 1997;Rhoades & Rhoads, 2003;Rhoads, 2003;Rhoads & Rhoades, 2005). however, critics of the unionization of academic workers tend to subscribe to the idea that the university represents a culture of "academic exceptionalism," a general belief that universities do not constitute the type of labor environment associated with blue-collar workers (where unions traditionally are more active), and hence, lack the need for collective bargaining (Bender & kinkela, 2001, p. 9).…”

“…Similarly, academic laborers within the university enterprise also have benefited from unionization (Rhoades, 1998;Rhoades & Rhoads, 2003). Unionized academics have formal influence over their working conditions, a just discipline and dismissal process, and an agreed upon workload, to name just a few of the usual benefits (Berry, 2005;Nelson, 1997;Rhoades, 1998;Rhoades & Rhoads, 2003;Rhoads & Rhoades, 2005).…”