ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes and contextualizes data concerning the growth in unionization and collective bargaining involving faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate assistants from 2013 to 2019, the period between the economic fallout from the Great Recession and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter discusses the democratic values underlying collective bargaining and the historical and legal development of unionization at public and private institutions over the decades. It identifies three significant new trends in the period 2013–2019: a groundswell of new collective bargaining relationships at private institutions involving contingent faculty and graduate assistants; the rate of bargaining unit growth at four-year public institutions outpacing community colleges; and the increased role of non-traditional academic unions in representing faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and graduate assistants. Lastly the chapter presents data concerning work stoppages during the seven-year period and analyzes collectively negotiated agreements reached to resolve issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
