The Bloomington Faculty Council held a meeting Tuesday to address the impending IU graduate workers strike. The BFC voted 26-19 in favor of the resolution to support graduate workers’ right to strike.
“We have been here for seven years, we started this process seven years ago,” IU Graduate and Professional Student Government President Valentina Luketa said.
The resolution recognizes graduate students have the right to protest. It also calls on Rahul Shrivastav, executive vice president and IU provost, to immediately speak with the IGWC to avoid a strike and not to retaliate against any graduate students who engage in the strike.
“Students’ right to free speech is upheld at this university in the most strongest terms,” David Daleke, vice provost for graduate education and health sciences, said.
The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition-United Electrical Workers voted almost unanimously, 97.8%, to authorize a strike earlier this week.
Graduate workers are demanding their union status be recognized by the university. They are frustrated that their stipends have remained mostly stagnant while administrative salaries have increased.
IU graduate workers plan to begin picket lines starting Wednesday if their demands are not met.
