Plans to form a union affiliated with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America were approved by a vote of 1,785 to 912.

In a contract that still needs to be ratified by union members, the university has agreed to boost student pay and allow for independent arbitration in cases of alleged misconduct and discrimination.

Graduate students planned a three-day-long strike to demand fair pay, union security, and improved protections against sexual harassment and discrimination. If an agreement isn’t met, the union says they may strike longer, potentially disrupting university research.

Student workers have cited a lack of transparency and a failure to implement rapid and widespread testing among their many concerns regarding the school’s response to the pandemic.

The university sent dismissal letters to 54 teaching assistants who have been engaged in a months-long dispute over pay.

The students’ union and the university could not reach an agreement on salary, health benefits, and harassment protections.

After a series of appeals from the university, Missouri courts have ruled for the third time that students have collective bargaining rights.

The National Labor Relations Board has gone back-and-forth on whether graduate students at private universities can form unions three times in the past 19 years.

Observers expect that the National Labor Relations Board will reverse an Obama-era determination that graduate students are employees entitled to form unions.

More than 2,000 individuals favor the bargaining unit—the first at a private university in the US.

Administration officials contend that research and teaching assistants are students, not workers, and want to take the matter to federal court.

The decision affects about 5,000 graduate students at the university who are eligible to join the union.

Student workers seek voluntary recognition of their unions by university administrators out of concern that political appointees may deny their unions legal status.