WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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On September 25th, the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition voted ‘no’ on strike authorization with a 91 percent majority. The union voted ‘yes’ on setting a future strike date if negotiations with the university fail.
To provide insight into the graduate workers union, WFHB News spoke with Anne Kavalerchik, member of the Coordinating Committee for the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition.
She walked through how the university has “caved” in some respects by increasing the minimum stipend, promising to include a periodic increase of wages in line with other Big Ten schools and eliminating some of the mandatory fees for graduate workers. Kavalerchik outlined how the changes played into the conversation of not continuing the strike for the fall semester.
Kavalerchik explained how she viewed the spring strike, whether or not she believes the university has formally recognized the union and what it would take to continue the strike at a later date.
The grad workers union will host a rally outside the Indiana Memorial Union this Friday from noon to 1 p.m. during IU President Pamela Whitten’s lunch with student leaders.
To learn more about the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition, visit https://www.indianagradworkers.org.
