USC graduate student workers union overwhelmingly voted 95.1% “yes” to authorize a strike.
On Friday morning, the Graduate Student Workers Organizing Committee-United Auto Workers (GSWOC-UAW) announced that over 2,000 student workers are ready to continue bargaining for better working conditions. In an Instagram post, the members asked for “fair wages, real recourse, and a strong union” from the USC administration.
Talks of the possible strike officially started on June 1, 2023, according to the union’s bargaining portal. As stated on the GSWOC-UAW website, graduate students have already won three “tentative agreements” with USC regarding employment transparency, protections against unjust termination, as well as health and safety equipment training.
On October 24, Anand Balakrishnan, a PhD candidate in the computer science department, expressed why they are voting “yes” to the strike in a post on the GSWOC-UAW website.
“[Graduate Student Workers] shouldn’t have to worry about making next month’s rent. The USC administration’s current proposals — which would keep wages low, limit parents from receiving childcare support, keep GSWs from having a strong union, and prevent GSWs from filing a grievance when we face discrimination or harassment in the workplace — are completely unacceptable,” Balakrishnan’s statement read.
USC shared their response to the vote, “We are disappointed that the graduate student workers voted to authorize a strike. We have been fully engaged in negotiations with the United Auto Workers and have been bargaining in good faith. The economic package we have offered our Ph.D. students is competitive with stipends that are already higher than many… institutions with newly ratified union contracts.”
The university also claimed that USC’s current proposal includes benefits such as a semester-long paid parental leave, a child care subsidy of $1,800, dependent health care fund for eligible medical expenses, five sick day leaves, international graduate student workers fund for students who lose their visa status, and reimbursement of mandatory student fees and tuition remission.
For more information on the ongoing strike and its developments, visit the GSWOC-UAW bargaining portal.