The IGWC Releases Strike Pledge to Members
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition (IGWC) sent out a strike pledge to its members on Monday, March 25th. The strike pledge asks members if they would participate in a three-day strike, from Wednesday through Friday, April 17th, 18th, and 19th.
The strike goal is to gain a wage increase for graduate students. Organizers are calling the collective action “Three Days for a Raise.” IGWC members are asking for a university-wide raise for all graduate employees as the only way to prevent the strike.
At a Friday Town Hall at the Monroe Public Library, union members enthusiastically endorsed a strike plan. Over the weekend, more than fifty department organizers across Indiana University voted to approve the strike pledge through an online vote.
“We have no other choice but to ask our members about striking. We have tried all year to engage this administration in dialogue to no avail. Over 1,300 graduate employees signed union cards and asked for a meeting with them. They have even refused to answer our emails. While we love our classes and would much rather teach than strike, we need to make it clear to the university that this kind of disregard and disrespect is unacceptable,” said Katharina Schmid-Schmidsfelden from the Germanic Studies Department.
Organizers said that they would only call a strike if 500 associate instructors agreed to it. Associate instructors teach undergraduate courses at IU.
“We won’t call for a strike unless our members pledge to do this together. We are going to have a powerful strike or no strike at all. It’s up to our members,” explained Sabina Ali, a PhD candidate in Religious Studies.
Organizers are also asking research assistants and other graduate employees to cease any work not related to their academic progress during those three days.
“We desperately need a wage increase. Our members are pushed to the edge of survival. Our entire paychecks go to food and housing, if they even cover that,” explained Ann Campbell, a PhD candidate in History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine.
The MIT Living Wage Calculator for Bloomington, Indiana, for a single person is now $41,441 per year.
IGWC carried out a successful strike in 2022, which resulted in the elimination of all student fees for graduate employees and a $7,000 increase in the minimum yearly wages to $22,000. The IU Administration recently announced a $1,000 raise in the base rate to $23,000 starting next Fall, although most SAAs were already making $22,600 or more.
Meanwhile, at peer institutions like Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, graduate employees will make a minimum of $45,000 per year by the end of 2024—after successful union negotiations and strike threats during this last year.
“At the heart of the issue is that this administration refuses any dialogue with its employees. These are deeply anti-democratic and against any form of dialogue, which does not bode well for the future of our university,” opined Elijah Beaton, a PhD Student in History.