Boston University grad worker strike ends, but students say contract isn’t enough

The 206-day strike ended Wednesday when 87 percent of union members voted in favor of ratifying a contract.

The Boston University Graduate Workers Union agreed to end their strike Wednesday and ratified a contract with the university that would increase the stipends for the lowest paid doctoral workers by 60 percent.

The union, represented by SEIU Local 509, announced that 87 percent of the union voted in favor of BU’s proposed contract. Striking workers returned to work starting at 9 a.m. Thursday.

The 206-day strike was the longest graduate worker strike in the country, the union said, which came after a “historic” union election vote in 2022. In March, the workers began their strike to fight for a living wage, improved healthcare, and cost of living adjustments.

“More than anything, this contract is a demonstration that despite graduate workers coming and going, we are a workforce that cares for one another and will fight to protect each other,” SEIU said in a statement.

The proposed contract from BU included a wage increase, but far from the union’s demand. While the union was asking for $62,440 stipend for salaried PhD workers, the proposed contract ratified offered $45,000 12-month stipends, with a 3 percent increase over the contract’s three years.

On X, the rank and file of the BU Grad Workers posted a statement, saying “no contract could ever be enough.” They said while pay tiers were eliminated and pay did increase for some members, the contract fell short on other requests like health care.

The contract offered no changes to the current Student Health Insurance Plan. The union was fighting for expanded insurance and dental and vision plans offered to BU faculty and staff.

“To be clear, ending a strike with demands as yet unwon is no moral failure when we’ve simply exhausted ourselves fighting. We must remember that every contract is a stalemate in a larger struggle – a stalemate imposed by the monotonous tyranny of the monthly rent payment that coerces us back to work,” the union wrote.

“We believe we have come to a competitive agreement with our graduate student workers that supports their experience at BU and will enhance their quality of life,” BU Provost Gloria Waters said, according to BU Today. “We look forward to welcoming our students back to work, and to the many contributions they will continue to make to the academic mission of Boston University.”

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.