BU grad workers vow to win deal
takes quizzes that make up about 20 percent of her grade. And Hahn said the fate of her upcoming midterm is uncertain, as teaching assistants normally proctor it.
She said the strike has been eye-opening for her.
“A lot of undergrads, we kind of assumed that, like, [graduate workers] were a bunch of 25year-old kids,” said Hahn. Yet, Hahn said, because of the strike, she’s realized many graduate students are older than that and “it’s their whole job.”
It’s unclear how long the strike will last. The next bargaining sessions are set to take place Wednesday and April 1.
The university, which did not provide a comment Tuesday, has said it is working to ensure academic programs run smoothly.
“We are concerned about the strike’s impact on teaching, research, and the lives of thousands of other students, and we are working to minimize that disruption,” Rachel Lapal Cavallario, a BU spokesperson, said Monday.
The English department often relies on grad workers to teach classes, Sparks Lin said. That has led to many classes being canceled due to the strike, she said. Some of her students have attended the picket line in solidarity with the union, she said.
“They are also in precarious financial situations,” she said, alluding to hefty undergraduate tuition and fees, which beginning this fall is costing an estimated $90,207 per student, according to BU.
Many undergraduate students have shown strong support for the striking grad students, said Vijay Fisch, a BU sophomore studying data science and a senator for BU’s student government. Fisch said he cosponsored a student-government measure — which passed Monday — aimed at supporting the strike.
Grad workers are currently paid stipends between $27,000 to $40,000, according to the union. The university said these wages are for 20 hours of work per week; the grad students said they often work much more than that. They are now asking the school for about a $62,000 stipend, the union said — to which BU said it offered about $42,000 for PhD students on 12month stipends. The union declined to counteroffer, BU said.
“I work 9 to 5, sometimes 10 to 6,” on weekdays, said Sparks Lin. “And I work six to seven hours each weekend day. I took one or two days off this entire year.”