Strike looms tomorrow at NY’s New School
NewsTeaching assistants at The New School have set a March 6 strike deadline after voting 94% in favour , in a 77% turnout.
Press release:
After more than six months of bargaining their successor contract, teaching
fellows, teaching assistants, course assistants, research assistants, and tutors at The New
School, represented by United Auto Workers (UAW), will go on strike this coming
Wednesday. Having authorized their strike with 94% voting yes, and a historic 77% of
members participating, academic student workers have a powerful mandate for its work
stoppage. For over half a year the workers have bargained continuously and in good faith
with The New School. The university, meanwhile, has dragged its feet, and offered insulting
poverty wages in a time of skyrocketing inflation. The strike will proceed unless the
university comes back to the table before March 6 with an acceptable offer.
Less than one year after their professors walked off the job for 25 days, academic student
workers began negotiating the terms of their new union contract. The workers are asking for
higher wages and improved healthcare, alongside workplace and standard of living reforms
like access to a childcare fund and better support for international students. Unlike many
graduate students in the U.S., most at The New School pay tuition and do not receive
stipends. The average academic student worker makes about 11K per year and none make
more than 24K. This is a special hardship for international students who are restricted from
most forms of off-campus work. Academic student workers do not earn a New York City
living wage and none make enough to afford even a shared apartment within a 90-minute
commute from campus. To be an academic student worker at The New School is to be in a
state of near constant financial anxiety.
The rhetoric from this group is astoundingly false. This university is offering all the doctoral student workers full tuition and almost all of their health insurance paid. A free ride. They think this university is a bank, with money to be robbed. They’re delusional and dangerous.
I’m a student at The New School — a 24-year-old undergraduate. I make 16 dollars an hour here. Yes, I’m not making a lot of money, and yes, I have financial anxiety. I, however, see this period in my life as a short-term sacrifice to learn and work at such an extraordinary institution with excellent teachers and mentors. There are plenty of classes at different times. Work somewhere else if you’re in school to make money. I’m sick of being around such entitled and ignorant students.
I totally agree!!
The New School’s own website states that not every graduate student (let’s be clear; not all graduate students are doctoral students and this is a graduate student strike) receives scholarships, and those that do cover on average around half of one’s tuition. That’s one thing if you’re dealing with European university tuition models of a couple hundred Euros per semester in Germany, but American graduate programs are expensive, with your programs easily costing over $50,000 a year (before you account cost of living expenses in New York). The New School’s administrative fees for grad students alone is several thousand dollars a year, which isn’t easy to afford even if you are lucky enough to receive a PhD stipend from your university. Like it or not, American universities rely on graduate student workers to function, so let them recognize their students as their employees too.
What’s “delusional” is offering an $11k stipend in New York City in exchange for teaching work without which the New School would be unable to staff its undergraduate classes.
Factually incorrect. I stayed up until 4am watching them try to get some gender affirming care and expanded mental health support into the contract. Pls don’t lie <3
I understand it’s a TA strike, but what does that have to do with the picture indicating “Shut it down for Palestine”-themed walkout? Is there something I’m missing here? A political statement or labor dispute?
You should be aware that the photo accompanying this story is from a earlier and totally unrelated rally in support of of Palestine. This is quite misleading and poor journalistic practice, to say the least, and it should be removed from this post.
I was shocked to see the graphic picture indicating that this possible strike is about Palestine!
That absolutely is not true and having that picture above the Contract negotiations information is completely misleading. That sign with the protest is from ages ago and has nothing to do with the current Contract negotiations.
I love your organization and your reporting and this is not up to your standards. Please publish a correction!
The current contract negotiations have nothing to do with politics.
Thank you..
A good thing to do if you want to be out of work. The badly managed New School is on life support.
I’m a little confused. Is there any connection to classical music?