Penn State faculty file for union representation

Faculty at Pennsylvania State University soon could be part of a union.

Members of the Penn State Faculty Alliance on Tuesday said they turned in thousands of union authorization cards to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board’s offices in Harrisburg.

The alliance petitioned to represent all faculty, including at University Park, all commonwealth campuses and in the University Libraries.

The faculty alliance’s filing comes after Penn State trustees earlier this year decided to close seven commonwealth campuses — Fayette, New Kensington, Shenango, Mont Alto, DuBois, Wilkes-Barre and York — at the end of the Spring 2027 semester. Administration recommended those campuses close because of declining enrollment, finances and a reported limited growth potential there.

Before that, Penn State offered a buyout program at the commonwealth campuses, which led to a 10% reduction in personnel. At Penn State New Kensington, for example, 40% of eligible staff took buyouts in 2024.

“The announcement to close seven campuses came last May, but I have been organizing since five years ago because I saw the direction this university was headed,” Julio Palma, a chemistry professor at Penn State Fayette, said during a livestreamed news conference in Harrisburg.

“Big decisions that impact thousands of people — faculty, staff and students and community — were being made by a small group of wealthy individuals that are far removed from the classroom, far removed from the communities.”

Palma said that, leading up to the campus closure vote, faculty, staff and students at commonwealth campuses held rallies, talked to elected officials and wrote letters to keep their schools open, but nothing moved the needle.

A faculty union would provide a legally recognized voice for employees, Palma said.

“If we had had a faculty union, we wouldn’t be in this position,” he said. “We need a faculty union.”

A university spokesperson said the university will review the petition when they receive it from the labor relations board.

“Penn State deeply values the teaching, research and service of our faculty, who play a critical role in fueling the success of our students and advancing our mission,” the spokesperson said.

A Penn State website, unionfacts.psu.edu, says university leadership “seeks to maintain a positive, supportive work environment and values the contributions of university employees.”

It says faculty have several ways to raise concerns without a union, including outlets such as the Faculty Senate, university and unit ombudspersons, direct communication with department chairs and administrators and the Penn State hotline overseen by the office of ethics and compliance.

Penn State faculty will vote on forming a union through a secret ballot election at a date to be determined, according to the faculty alliance.

If unionized, Penn State faculty would be part of SEIU Local 668.

The other state-related institutions — the University of Pittsburgh, and Temple and Lincoln universities — have faculty unions. Faculty in the state’s System of Higher Education also have a union.

“Penn State is the land-grant institution for the state of Pennsylvania,” said Victor Brunsden, a math professor at Penn State Altoona. “Our mission is to teach, to do research and do outreach and serve this state. How can we do that adequately if the people that actually do that work, my colleagues, do not have any say in how the institution is run, or the direction that it takes?

“That requires an institution that represents us. That means we need a union.”