On August 23, the National Labor Relations Board finally conceded what graduate students at private universities like the University of Chicago have long known: that we are workers and should have the legal right to unionize.

This ruling is a tremendous and long-awaited victory, and will improve the lives of graduate workers and their families, and it will help academic workers more broadly to confront the crisis of casualization in academic labor. Critically, this ruling and the wave of unionization that is sure to follow will positively impact another key aspect of academic life: the faculty-student relationship.

Relationships with faculty members are one of the most cherished aspects of the graduate school experience for many of us. Ideally, our faculty advisers are mentors who facilitate intellectual growth, prepare us to go into the job market, and provide us with a combination of support and challenge that helps us become the best scholars we can be. Meanwhile, faculty often dedicate enormous amounts of time to the students they advise, from meetings, to writing letters of recommendation, to helping shape opportunities for intellectual growth in all areas of academic life.