Grinnell College students want to create the "most unionized campus in the country" by expanding the school's student labor union to cover all on-campus student workers.

The union, which currently represents about 350 students who work in the campus dining hall, could be expanded to cover 800 more students.

"We have an opportunity to radically rethink the relationship between student labor and the college," the union's website states. "We can make Grinnell the most unionized campus in the country, a place where democracy rules over fiat, where fair wages are the rule rather than the exception."

Grinnell students made history in 2016 when they formed the Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers, one of the country's only independent undergraduate student labor unions on a private college campus. It was recognized formally by the National Labor Relations Board that year.

Leaders of the independent union notified college President Raynard Kington of their expansion plans last week. A hand-delivered letter asked the administration to stay neutral on a campus union vote and to recognize the expansion if it won approval through a simple majority vote.

College spokeswoman Lisa Lacher said the administration is weighing the union's plans.

“We are taking the students’ request very seriously, carefully researching our options and the implications," she told the Register. "We want to do what’s best for the students and the college."

In its first bargaining sessions with administrators last fall, the union won a wage hike for students who worked in the dining hall. The base wage increased from $8.50 per hour to $9.25. The contract also included bonus pay for workers who clock in at least 110 hours per semester.

A second round of negotiations pushed the dining hall's base wage to $9.50 per hour.

"We thought it was high time to bring those benefits of unionization to the rest of campus," said union president Cory McCartan, "and give student workers everywhere a voice."

While the union has earned a seat at the bargaining table with college administrators, McCartan said it intentionally shied away from joining an international labor union, like some graduate students have on other campuses across the country.

The Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers collects voluntary dues of $2 per month from its 140 or so members. McCartan said the group has about $200 in its bank account.

"It's just students," he said. "We sit down and bargain and handle grievances."

College officials said the private school employs about 925 students. By the end of the academic year, about 1,200 students will have been employed on campus, as numbers fluctuate between semesters.

Though labor union membership has declined for decades in the U.S., Grinnell's union came amid a time of other unionization attempts on college campuses.

Graduate student employees at dozens of schools, including the University of Iowa, have unionized in the last decade.

In 2014, after a union vote, Northwestern University student athletes petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for union protection.

The NLRB did not answer the case's central question of whether student athletes are employees. But the body tossed out the unionization effort in 2015, noting potential disparity because public universities not governed by the NLRB could not unionize (public colleges are governed by state labor laws).

Grinnell's union leaders expect a vote on the union expansion to occur sometime in the next few weeks. McCartan said the union has enjoyed a cordial relationship with the administration.

But the group still sees need for change.

The union's website says campus jobs can "disappear without notice or discussion." And it says wages and hours are currently "set arbitrarily by the administration."

"We’re entirely democratic and student-run," the website reads. "Relying on voluntary dues and volunteered time, we’ve taken on one of the wealthiest colleges in the country and won large raises, negotiated new worker protections, and improved the quality of service in the dining hall. It’s time to bring the benefits of unionization to the rest of campus."