Why SEIU?

The Duke Graduate Student Union’s parent union is the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU. As a member of the SEIU Southern Region (we’re Local 27!), we are proud to unite with nearly 2 million other workers in SEIU-supported unions, including over 100,000 who work in higher education.

Joining SEIU allows our smaller union access to the funds and resources of a much larger union. A unionization effort takes time and energy from us, the PhD student body, but it also takes lawyers, paid organizers, and other expensive resources. With the backing of SEIU, we are able to afford what it takes to successfully unionize at a wealthy private university with an endowment in excess of $12B.

In addition to funds and resources, partnering with SEIU means working with an organization that has the same values as DGSU. SEIU spearheads the Fight for $15 movement and contributes to other racial and economic justice-focused campaigns for worker rights across the country.

We are proud to partner with an organization that cares about higher-ed workers’ rights. SEIU started a higher ed organizing arm called "Faculty Forward" in 2013 and has since expanded it to Graduate Workers Forward.

Finally, SEIU has proven they can help us WIN. Whether it’s Fordham University or Knox College, Starbucks or Heine Brothers Coffee, Dignity Health workers or Chicago window washers, this 100+ years-old institution has the means and the history to get things done. Read more here about how SEIU helps members achieve unionization wins.