The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition-United Electrical Workers overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike, with 97.8% of those voting saying yes. Unless IGWC-UE demands are met, picket lines will begin Wednesday.
The organization is seeking union recognition from the university to represent graduate workers in a collective bargaining agreement with the administration. They are frustrated that administrative salaries have increased while graduate worker stipends have remained mostly stagnant, among other issues, according to an IGWC-UE press release.
“The Administration’s priorities just seem to be wrong,” Valentina Luketa, president of Graduate and Professional Student Government, said in the release. “They are funding all kinds of prestige projects and high administration salaries and meanwhile neglecting the educational mission of the university.”
Graduate workers at IU Bloomington perform a number of roles, including teaching classes, conducting research and carrying out administrative tasks.
The IGWC-UE plans to hold votes at least weekly on whether to continue striking.
