Graduate Workers Coalition lodges its first strike against Indiana University since 2022

Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition (IGWC) members will strike against Indiana University April 17-19 — their first striking action since the 2022 spring semester. IGWC members overwhelmingly endorsed the strike plan on April 15, with only 8% of the 699 members voting against authorizing the strike.

IGWC members, who serve as Student Academic Appointees (SAAs) at IU, will cancel classes and abstain from grading, proctoring exams and other instructional and administrative duties through Friday. The IGWC is also asking undergraduate students in their courses to not attend classes on these days, and some faculty members are expected to also cancel classes in solidarity.

“Everyone on campus is invited to participate and join us on the picket lines,” said Sabina Ali, a coordinating member for the IGWC.

The strike is the latest action from the IGWC in their renewed push this semester for a “living wage,” as defined by the MIT Living Wage Calculator, and for formal union recognition, which the coalition has been fighting for since 2021.

SAAs at IU currently earn $22,000 for 10-month appointments, approximately $10,000 less than the “living wage” the MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates is needed for a single adult with no children in Bloomington. Although SAAs are technically part-time (IU expects 20 hours per week), IGWC members argue that research, teaching and learning duties make them full-time appointments.

“I don’t know where the other hours are in the day, where we could possibly take up another part-time job,” said David Garner, the IGWC’s communication chair.

Are classes canceled April 17-19 at Indiana University-Bloomington?

Approximately 800 IGWC members are expected to cancel classes April 17-19 and will refrain from grading, proctoring exams or holding office hours. The coalition is also asking undergraduate students not to attend class on these days.

IGWC members will be picketing across the Bloomington campus during the three-day strike. Members will picket from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ballantine Hall on Wednesday, at the Global and International Studies Building on Thursday and Woodburn Hall on Friday.

Why is the IGWC striking again?

The IGWC earned major victories from its four-week strike in 2022; IU increased SAA stipends from $15,000 to $22,000 for its 10-month contracts and eliminated various mandatory fees that averaged more than $1,400.

Yet despite the IGWC collecting union cards from 1,584 SAAs (more than 60% of the approximately 2,500 SAAs on campus) in December 2021, IU continued to ignore calls from the coalition to hold a union election, a formal legal process that would ensure the IGWC a permanent seat at the bargaining table.

In January, the IGWC delivered over 1,300 union cards to the IU administration and again asked them to hold a union election. The IGWC says IU never responded to the request.

Ali says the continued fight for a “living wage” that keeps pace with rising inflation underscores the need for a formal union, rather than bargaining concessions.

“We don’t want to have to strike every time,” Ali said. “We want to have a recognized seat at the bargaining table, where we can bargain for our working conditions, for our wages, for our health benefits, and people will actually have to do something about it.”

Is the IGWC a union?

The IGWC is still not recognized as a formal worker’s union as IU has not responded to the IGWC’s requests to hold an election.

Under national labor law, employers are typically supposed to hold a union election and begin negotiations after 30% of an employee workforce fills out union cards or signs a union petition.

But because IU employees are in the public sector, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)’, who initiates and oversees union elections in the private sector, cannot compel IU to begin a unionization process.

This means, effectively, the IGWC has to rely on the good faith of IU to respond to their unionization requests. Graduate workers at other public universities including the University of Minnesota and the University of Maine have unionized in recent years, either through direct negotiation with the university or through state labor relations boards. Indiana has a statewide labor relations board for public school teachers, the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board (IEERB), but lacks a statewide labor relations board to oversee public sector unionization practices.

Will the IGWC strike again?

The IGWC has not announced any follow-up striking actions yet, but Ali says the coalition plans to continue the measure in future semesters until IU begins a union election process.

“Our goal is to create a culture of striking on campus, and plan a strike every semester, if possible, until they recognize us,” Ali said.

Reach Brian Rosenzweig at brian@heraldt.com

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana University grad workers go on 3-day strike in Bloomington