Earlier this week, New York University's Graduate Employees Union, an affiliate of the United Auto Workers, declared a work stoppage amid growing frustrations over stalled negotiations for a new contract according to Inside Higher Ed.
Negotiations have dragged on for ten months. Graduate students are asking for a living wage, affordable healthcare, paid vacation and leave, support for families, redress for discrimination and harassment, and help for members to secure housing and transportation.
Columbia Graduate Student workers have been on strike for two weeks, a response to the fact that they still have no contract 5 years after the NLRB ruled they had a right to form a union. Inside Higher Ed has the story here. The Columbia Spectator also has coverage of undergraduate support for the graduate workers.
Elsewhere in New York City, NYU saw members of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC) and their supporters rally in support of a vote for strike authorization. GSOC claims that after nine months of negotiations, and the expiration of their last contract in August 2020, the administration has been stonewalling in negotiations. The NYU student paper, Washington Square News, has the story here.
