Penn reached a tentative agreement with its graduate student union on Monday night, making the group one step closer to securing its first contract.
Without the agreement — which will head to a ratification vote next week — over 3,700 graduate student workers could have indefinitely halted all teaching and research duties. The Daily Pennsylvanian tracked Graduate Employees Together — the University of Pennsylvania’s history on campus, from unionization to this week’s negotiations.
April 24, 2023 — After previous attempts to be recognized by the University failed, nearly 2,000 doctoral, master's, and undergraduate student workers signed authorization cards to form a union.
April 26, 2023 — Hundreds rallied outside of Van Pelt Library to advocate for improved working conditions, financial security, and protection against discrimination.
Oct. 4, 2023 — Roughly 300 rally goers attempted to enter College Hall to deliver a letter to then-Penn President Liz Magill and Provost John Jackson Jr.
Oct. 6, 2023 — Graduate students seeking to unionize filed 3,000 authorization cards with the National Labor Relations Board.
April 14, 2024 — The National Labor Relations Board indefinitely postponed GET-UP's union election — without providing a reason for the sudden delay or a rescheduled election date — just days before students were scheduled to head to the polls.
May 3, 2024 — Graduate workers overwhelmingly voted to unionize, with 1,807 in favor and 97 against.
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Oct. 17, 2024 — GET-UP held its first bargaining session with Penn.
Dec. 4, 2024 — Over 1,300 “fed up” graduate students sign a petition asking University administrators to “end the needless delays” and “commit to a fair contract.”
Jan. 28, 2025 — Hundreds of people gathered in front of College Hall in support of graduate student workers’ continued efforts to secure a contract with Penn. Union members hoped to strengthen protections for international student workers under 1968 Wharton graduate and President Trump’s administration.
March 6, 2025 — Penn struck down several anti-discrimination provisions during negotiations — which included accommodations for pregnancy, police harassment, religious needs, access to gender-neutral bathrooms, and sexual harassment training.
March 18, 2025 — Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences graduate student government unanimously passed a resolution supporting fair bargaining efforts between GET-UP and the University. At the time, GET-UP had outlined 33 proposals, of which only five have been agreed to by the University.
Oct. 8, 2025 — The union hosted an informational picket with over 500 workers, demanding fair contracts and preparing union members for a potential strike.
Oct. 17, 2025 — GET-UP reached its first tentative agreement with Penn on an article protecting students from harassment and discrimination, exactly one year after negotiations began.
Nov. 21, 2025 — The union overwhelmingly voted — 2,229 in favor of authorization and 187 against — to authorize a strike.
Jan. 14 — GET-UP announced plans on Tuesday to launch an indefinite strike — suspending all teaching and research duties — if a contract agreement was not reached with the University by Feb. 17.
Jan. 28 — The union wrote that Penn had been engaging in “slow bargaining” over provisions involving healthcare, compensation, international support, and childcare support for graduate workers.
Feb. 3 — State and city lawmakers wrote to Penn President Larry Jameson and Provost John Jackson Jr., calling on Penn to reach a fair contract agreement with the union.
Feb. 5 — Penn and GET-UP reached a tentative agreement on childcare. According to the University’s package, they had offered $2,500 for one child and $1,250 for each additional child, as well as up to $5,000 per semester for stipended graduate workers.
Feb. 9 — The University and GET-UP met to continue negotiations on transit and parking, compensation, healthcare, medical and parental leave, and tuition.
Feb. 12 — Teamster Local 623, a Philadelphia-based union primarily composed of truck and bus drivers, sent a letter to Jameson stating that if GET-UP were to go on strike, the drivers would respect the picket lines and refuse to deliver to addresses on campus.
Feb. 13 — University administrators share a Comprehensive Economic Package that offered graduate student workers $115,506 in total annual compensation — a “20% increase in the University’s overall annual costs per graduate student.”
Feb. 16 — Penn reached a tentative agreement with GET-UP, averting a strike. The agreement included a 21% increase in minimum stipends, protections against discrimination and harassment, support for international workers, and healthcare coverage.
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Staff reporter Daniya Siddiqui covers campus advocacy and can be reached at siddiqui@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies political science.
Staff reporter Cathy Sui covers federal policy and can be reached at sui@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies finance and statistics.
