UAW's Diverse Support: From Grad Students to J.D. Vance

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union, traditionally associated with autoworkers, has seen a growing number of academic workers, including graduate students, join its ranks. Approximately 100,000 of the UAW's 383,000 members now work in higher education, including teaching and research assistants, clerical and technical workers, adjunct professors, and postdocs. The union's expansion into academia has helped maintain its numbers as its share of autoworkers has decreased. The UAW has been actively organizing in universities across the country, with recent unionization votes at the University of Maine and ongoing votes at the University of Alaska.