The office of the president in Penn State’s Old Main on Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
Abby Drey
adrey@centredaily.com
More than 100 Pennsylvania state legislators sent a letter to Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi urging the administration not to interfere with a faculty unionization effort. The university says it expects a mail-in ballot election could begin later this semester.
FULL STORY: Pennsylvania lawmakers urge Penn State to avoid interference in faculty union effort
Here are five key takeaways:
• The letter was signed by 102 state legislators, including Centre County Reps. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, and Paul Takac, D-College Township. They urged the administration to commit to not interfering with faculty organizing and collective bargaining.
• Takac drew a distinction between neutrality and non-interference, saying the administration is “well within their legal rights” to advocate its position on unionization but should not interfere with the process.
• Faculty would be represented by SEIU Local 668. Julio Palma, an assistant professor of chemistry at Penn State Fayette who has been part of the organizing effort for six years, said unionization is “the only way to actually protect academic freedom, protect job security.”
• Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos called the upcoming vote “historic” and thinks it is possible that flexibility for faculty “will significantly be reduced” under a union contract.
• The Penn State Faculty Alliance alleges the university has “increased its anti-union messaging, designed to divide and confuse faculty.” Andrew Read, Penn State’s senior vice president for research, said during a town hall that he had “serious concerns” about unionization’s impact on research, according to WPSU.
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.