What was the result of the election?

We won our faculty union election with 2,510 faculty voting yes and a clear mandate for change on May 14th, 2026!

What comes next?

We gather faculty input and move forward to negotiate with Penn State’s administration on the issues that matter most to us. That means democratically setting our bargaining priorities through a pre-bargaining survey and recruiting faculty members to build a strong union so that all our voices are represented across ranks, campuses, colleges, and disciplines. Over the next few months, we will develop our union’s specific leadership structure and democratically elect our bargaining team.

Now that we’ve won, how can I become a union member? And how much will it cost?

You can absolutely join now: We hope that all Penn State faculty will join the PSFA. You can join immediately by filling out our membership form.

Dues are set at 1.39%, and there are no additional fees. Penn State faculty will not pay dues until PSFA members vote to approve a contract.  Dues cover the cost of building a strong organization that fights for faculty needs. Dues fund staff and legal support, office space, and negotiating and enforcing a collective bargaining agreement, which we vote to approve. Dues do not go to political contributions.

So now we have a union, do we have rights before we have a contract?

Yes! As soon as the union is certified as our bargaining agent (formal notification is expected soon), all faculty will have the right to union representation in investigatory meetings that could result in discipline. If you are called into such a meeting, please reach out to us at psfa@seiu668.org.

How do I get more involved?

As a first step, you can sign your union card or fill out our new Get Involved form on our PSFA website! Our strength as an organization comes from broad participation and engagement across every department and campus. If you have issues that you care about, we hope that you will get involved to advocate for them.

In the coming months we will be developing our union’s specific leadership structure, establishing our bargaining team, and working to ensure high participation in the bargaining process. Make sure you’ve signed your digital union membership card to step up and build a strong, democratic union.

What will PSFA fight for at the bargaining table?

We will determine our priorities through a pre-bargaining survey and deliberate the results, translating survey responses to bargaining proposals. The Union will establish a bargaining team that will fight for these priorities. Bargaining can address wages, benefits, supplemental pay, job security, health and safety in the workplace, and a variety of other issues that matter to you.

I am a faculty member, not an administrator, but I was left off the eligible voter list for our union election by the administration. Will I be part of the union?

The administration decided to leave a sizable group of faculty off the voter list due to what we consider an overly expansive definition of “supervisor.” Many faculty who have postdocs, staff, or other faculty underneath them in the internal Penn State organizational chart were excluded from the voter list. We, as PSFA, did not and do not agree with this definition of a supervisor and do not believe it is legally supported.

We will fight to include all faculty who are not supervisors or managers in our union. If the administration remains committed to its position at the bargaining table, it may require that we go to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) to get a legal ruling on the issue.

What about the unilateral decisions the administration is making right now regarding program closures, workload changes, and faculty transfers from closing campuses?

As a faculty union, we know that faculty inclusion in shared governance and decision-making is the best way to ensure that perspectives from the classroom and our academic values are given the priority they deserve at Penn State. We are concerned about the administration’s unilateral decision-making, particularly the austerity policies they’re pushing through. Therefore, we will demand to bargain over those subjects that are mandatory subjects of bargaining under the Pennsylvania Employe Relations Act after our certification is issued by the PLRB.