Posts tagged graduate students
‘It’s about damn time’: College workers organize amid nationwide labor unrest
February 8, 2023 // A historic strike at the University of California kicked things off in November. And the six-week standoff among 48,000 campus workers, a broader surge in labor strikes across industries, a depleted pandemic workforce and a friendlier atmosphere in Washington has culminated in a wave of uprisings.+
Graduate students vote to unionize with a 97% majority
February 6, 2023 // Graduate students across three Hopkins campuses voted in a union representation election, facilitated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), on Jan. 30 and 31. The election was organized by Teachers and Researchers United (TRU), which is affiliated with United Electrical Radio, and Machine Workers (UE). The vote overwhelmingly favored unionization — out of 3,335 NLRB-registered voters, 2,053 voted yes and 67 voted no, resulting in a 97% majority and 64% turnout rate. According to TRU-UE, the majority of graduate students signed cards calling for an election, with over 2,000 cards submitted to the NLRB in total. The two-day election took place in Homewood, East Baltimore and Washington, D.C. campuses. TRU-UE’s platform includes a livable wage, guaranteed on-time payments, improved support and protection for international students, safe and reliable transportation and facilities, fair grievance procedures and a commitment to Baltimore.
To afford historic labor contract, UC considers cutting TAs, graduate student admissions
February 1, 2023 // The full financial cost of the labor settlements between UC and 48,000 academic workers who help power the vaunted teaching and research engine are still being tallied. But preliminary estimates have dealt a “financial shock to the system,” said Rosemarie Rae, UC Berkeley chief financial officer. The UC Office of the President estimates that the increased costs for salary, benefits and tuition across all 10 campuses will be between $500 million and $570 million over the life of the contracts. Individual campuses have come up with their own calculations: At UC Santa Barbara, for instance, the Academic Senate chair estimated that the cost of pay hikes alone could spiral to more than $53 million over three years.
Arizona university workers demand thriving wage
January 27, 2023 // Workers at the University of Arizona (UA) are demanding a large pay raise, to the tune of $25 an hour, by 2025. The United Campus Workers of Arizona (UCW), which also represents workers at Arizona State University (ASU), is calling for people to sign their petition to university administrators to implement a “dignified wage for ALL workers.” The UCW petition clamored for the payment of “a thriving wage, not a poverty wage” for workers due to rising inflation, which led to “significant increases in housing costs, gas, and food expenses.” The petition also claimed that around 4,000 employees “are not making enough to survive in our communities” because 43% of UA workers make less than $25 an hour. Currently, the UA petition has gathered 579 signatures out of its goal of 800 signatures.