The University of Minnesota’s Graduate Labor Union (GLU) picketing efforts on East and West Bank campuses on Sept. 13 garnered support and increased awareness among the University community.
Since September 2023, GLU has made efforts to bargain for changes, including better pay, protections against abuse of authority and recognition of graduate fellows. The Board of Regents recently presented a contract with proposals on these issues, though GLU said it does not meet their proposed contract.
Sam Boland, a GLU bargaining committee representative, said the pickets engaged non-graduate students and the greater community. This engagement helped gain an awareness of GLU’s requests.
Boland said pickets have helped GLU facilitate bargains in the past, namely with GLU’s picket in July, which concerned workplace harassment.
“After our picket around that issue, the very next bargaining session, the Board of Regents came to the table with a full offer, and we were able to look that over and are close to reaching an agreement,” Boland said. “So we’ve seen in the past that these kinds of things work and that was really the rationale behind doing it again.”
Boland said fair pay is one of the big issues GLU is focusing on. The University is offering to set minimum pay to $25.50 per hour for pre-PhD candidates and pre-advanced masters, and $26.25 per hour for PhD and advanced masters students. Currently, the lowest-paid worker earns $22.17. Summer appointments are not included in pay.
David DeMark, a graduate student and union member, said the proposed minimum wage increase is not fantastic. For international students, the situation is even worse as visas do not allow them to work outside of the University.
“If an international student is, say, unable to get summer funding, which in many departments, is not a guarantee, and often does not happen, if they’re being paid at the proposed minimum pay rate, that is a maximum of around $21,000 in a year, which is basically unlivable,” DeMark said.
Another issue GLU members are focusing on is fee payment coverage, Boland said.
Depending on how much work graduate student workers are appointed to do, Boland said parts of their tuition is covered, though student fees for things like equipment and course materials are not. These costs vary depending on the program, and especially for international students, the fees can be pricey, from around $1,100 to $1,200.
Another issue GLU is bargaining for is the inclusion of graduate fellows. Graduate fellows are students who do research and lab work for the University as well as assist with teaching. Graduate fellows are not considered employees of the University and do not have any protections against abuse of teaching authority, among other things.
Graduate fellow and PhD candidate Kristine Loh said she has been doing the same work as someone who would be considered a teaching assistant but does not have the same rights.
“It’s really frustrating for me to have been recruited by the University with a fellowship, to be encouraged by the University to apply for more fellowships, for them to benefit from my grant money and then for them to say, ‘look at how many prestigious fellows that we have,’” Loh said. “And then for them to tell me I don’t deserve the same rights as the fellow grad worker next to me in the same lab.”
GLU member Noah Wexler said GLU is encouraging people to vote against the Board’s recent proposal as it does not meet what GLU is asking for. He said student workers want to stay working, but there is potential for a strike.
“Not many people around the Twin Cities necessarily know that a huge amount of the research and teaching labor at this university is done by grad workers, and spreading that knowledge is important for people to understand, especially around campus,” Wexler said. “If it weren’t for grad workers, if grad workers stopped working, the University would have a really big crisis on the campus.”
DeMark said GLU would not go on strike unless absolutely crucial. If undergraduates feel they could be negatively affected by a strike, DeMark said now is the time to tell the University to give GLU a fair contract.
“Like many instructors around the University, I’m really passionate about my instruction,” DeMark said. “I care about my students. I care about their educational outcomes. I care about them having a substantive and productive undergraduate experience and coming out with a degree that really means something. We are all here because we are passionate about what we do, and the fact that it’s come to the potential of striking indicates how drastic the situation is.”