Boston University grad workers still on strike as fall semester looms

BUGWU will return to the bargaining table with Boston University Thursday to discuss the most recent proposal, which includes childcare benefits and an annual $45,000 stipend.

Boston University graduate workers went on strike in March, leaving some classes without teaching assistants and fellows. Nearly five months later, and with two weeks until the start of the fall semester, the striking graduate student workers still haven’t returned to classrooms.

“We love school. We love this community,” doctoral student Nive Senthilvel told Boston.com. “It was disappointing to see how they treated a significant portion of their workforce, but I would say that overall morale has been high, and we’ve really been leaning on each other and leaning on the community.”

The Boston University Graduate Workers Union overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike starting March 25. The union, which has around 3,500 members, formed in 2022 and is now looking to sign its first collective bargaining agreement.

With the fall semester starting in two weeks, the union, part of SEIU Local 509, said graduate student workers won’t return to classrooms unless a contract is agreed on.

The workers and the university will return to the table on Thursday, the union said, to discuss what BU called their final proposal.

The graduate workers, who supervise, grade, and sometimes teach classes, have said they are fighting for a “living wage,” improved healthcare, and cost of living adjustments.

Currently, graduate workers are paid between $27,000 and $40,000 a year, significantly below the $62,000 that MIT’s living wage calculator says is necessary to live in Boston, BUGWU said in March.

Senthilvel, a third year doctoral student in BU’s history department, stopped attending the undergraduate class where she worked as a teaching fellow, hosting office hours for those students, and grading their discussion posts in March.

“Even though it was obviously a challenge for undergraduate students, and as somebody who loves teaching and loves building that relationship, it was also difficult for me,” Senthilvel said, “the response from the community of undergraduate students and even staff and our departments has been overwhelmingly positive.”

During the strike, BU didn’t cancel any classes for its more than 37,000 students, and departments replaced any striking graduate workers with other employees to grade student’s work. A spokesperson for the university said the strike did not disrupt any of their 700+ summer courses.

In a statement, a university spokesperson said they’re “hopeful we can come to an agreement” before the start of school. The spokesperson pointed to a contract proposal, which University Provost Gloria Waters referred to as a “new and final proposal” from earlier this month.

“My goal is to get a signed and ratified contract before the academic year begins,” Waters wrote to faculty and staff Aug. 7. “If we do not, the students will not see the benefits of the contract for the full academic year.”

During the strike, the university has also been accused of multiple unfair labor practices, including withholding pay from working students. SEIU filed two charges against the university with the National Labor Relations Board on March 26 and April 5. The university said at the time that “we believe that these charges will be found to be without merit.”

What’s in the contract proposal, and what isn’t?

According to the university, their most recent package offered by Waters includes an annual $45,000 minimum stipend and yearly three percent increases for five years on that stipend for doctoral students.

Other items include a $20 hourly wage with a yearly three percent increase and 14 weeks of paid childcare leave for full-time graduate students with stipends who are new parents, along with a $3,500 subsidy.

Waters also said graduate students will benefit from a $200,000 emergency fund. Doctoral students already have tuition and healthcare covered, the letter said.

“I hope the new package shows our students that we are listening, value their contributions to BU, and want to reach a fair contract with BUGWU,” Waters wrote. “It puts us in line with our peers, and, at the same time, recognizes the constraints of the University budget.”

According to the union’s proposals, grad student workers are asking for an annual $62,440 stipend with cost of living adjustments based on median rent in Boston, including a built-in seven percent minimum raise.

Senthilvel said the contract is still lacking despite “good movement forward” for the stipend amount and for additional parental benefits, but the school hasn’t addressed cost of living adjustments.

“We’re still pretty far apart on the length of the proposed contract,” she said. “(It) really does not keep up with the rate of inflation in Boston and it effectively means that any winnings that we make will be eroded over the course of year to year.”