The College Fix

The union now demands another 8 percent raise

There will be fewer doctorate candidates admitted to Indiana University to help offset the cost of raises won by the graduate students union.

The changes come as a result of a 46 percent raise given to graduate students as a result of a four-week strike last year by the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition United Electrical Workers, according to the student newspaper.

Indiana Daily Student reported:

According to Rob Potter, director of graduate studies in The Media School, there will also be fewer doctoral student admissions in the future to account for the 46% raise graduate students received last year after going on a four-week strike.

Potter said the university is decreasing doctoral student admission because the available budget for graduate students has not increased to account for last year’s promised raise.
“So essentially their compensation went up, but the general pool of money devoted to funding graduate student compensation remained the same,” Potter said. “The pie didn’t get bigger, but the slices did, and that means we can admit fewer doctoral students than we have in the past.”

Moving forward, graduate students admitted into Ph.D. programs at IU will receive four years of funding for their studies, Potter said. Graduate students currently enrolled in these programs will receive the promised funding necessary to complete their dissertations.

Still, the union continues to demand raises. “The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition United Electrical Workers submitted a petition for an 8% salary increase to IU administration March 31,” the student newspaper reported.

Other university unions have gone on strike to demand raises, but also money for abortions and transgender drugs and procedures. Graduate students at the University of Michigan also demanded an end to armed cops as part of their demands, as previously reported by The College Fix.

Medical residents and fellows at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical system have also explored the creation of a union, as previously reported by The Fix although there were not specific demands spelled out at the time by the organizers.

MORE: Higher ed workers joining unions, striking at record levels

IMAGE: Indiana Grad Workers Coalition/Instagram

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