Graduate school union calls on STEM students to refuse employment in military or defense industries upon graduation

The graduate student union at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is calling on all STEM students to take a pledge to not to work for any military or defense company after graduation.

In a tweet, the Graduate Employees’ Organization at UIUC called on STEM students to boycott any available jobs that would be associated with the military or defense industries upon graduation. According to the group’s statement, refusing such jobs is a necessary step in fighting back against “neo-facism.”

“We, the GEO-UIUC, stand in solidarity with STEM Strikes the War Machine and urge all STEM folks to sign the pledge within not work for any military or defense company,” the statement read. “As neo-fascism spreads through the cracks of liberal politics, we need engineers, scientists, researchers, and educators who fight for the welfare of human and non-human species.”

According to their website, STEM Strikes the War Machine is an online campaign that targets STEM majors with petitions to avoid military or defense jobs after graduation, as well as demanding that governments redistribute 90 percent of their military spending amongst STEM industries.

While it would seem bizarre for the Graduate Employees Organization, an AFL-CIO affiliated-union that represents graduate students at UIUC to advocate for a policy that is detrimental to their members’ employment prospects upon graduation. Such practices are actually indicative of the larger problems created by allowing graduate students the opportunity to unionize.

First, the GEO-UIUC only represents individuals for the duration of their time as a graduate student. Because the union reports to a single employer, the University, it is free to issue outlandish statements criticizing other industries as well as to lobby for policies that may not be beneficial to students after graduation.

Secondly, it is irresponsible for a union at a taxpayer-subsidized university to demand boycotts of other taxpayer-supported industries. By brainwashing students into believing that working for the military is evil, the union leaders do a disservice to their members by encouraging them to support tactics and campaigns that much of society would find repulsive. Additionally, such beliefs are also openly discriminatory against student union members who may be planning to serve in the military through the ROTC program.

While such a petition is unlikely to gain any traction or have any meaningful impact on public debate, it reinforces the fact that allowing graduate students to unionize may negatively impact a student’s long-term career prospects after graduation.