Harvard Graduate Student Union solidarity statement: vote yes to MIT graduate student unionization
Before our contract, student workers often knew little of what was expected of them, even regarding their basic hours and responsibilities.
The risks and costs of unionization
On April 4 and 5, many of MIT’s graduate students will participate in a confidential election to decide whether the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) will represent them for collective bargaining.
An open letter on the closing of the MIT Pharmacy
What will be the next convenience, perk, benefit, or job to be abruptly ended?
The disgraceful end of the beloved MIT Pharmacy
Believe me, there is no more comforting feeling than sprinting from MIT Medical’s Urgent Care to the warm environment of the Pharmacy and having an antibiotic or antiviral resting on your tongue in less than 15 minutes.
A former GSC President’s call to unionization
When negotiating with an administration that refuses to recognize what we do every day as work, I had little power to meaningfully address problems and make improvements in our conditions and compensation.
Why I’m voting ‘no’ to the graduate student union
How do the UE and GSU imagine they will write a singular representative contract that accounts for the thousands of possible and unpredictable paths that might be taken to solve the tough problems we tackle at MIT?
Ukraine is fighting the war that we should be fighting
Pick up your phone. Call your representative. Demand MIT to act now.
Senior Associate Dean of Housing & Residential Services responds to “We are unionizing for quality and affordable housing”
According to survey data, 90% of respondents agree or strongly agree that they are satisfied with their choice to live on campus.
An open letter on the Russo-Ukrainian war
Ukrainians fight for their freedom, for the right to be Ukrainian, for the right to determine their own future. These aspirations are universal. They are just.
Without a union, MIT is failing GRAs and undergraduates alike
Trying to maintain adequate living conditions was exhausting, frustrating, and totally disruptive to my research, my studies, and my GRA responsibilities.
An open letter on the considerations to be made about MIT graduate student unionization
In our view, unionization would represent a fundamental change in the academic partnerships between faculty and graduate students and could put at risk the critically important relationship between graduate student mentee and faculty mentor, potentially jeopardizing the leadership roles that our students and faculty hold in advancing the future of science, technology, and scholarship.
Our successes together
Indeed, it is our deep interest in our students’ work and success that has led us to embrace roles in student support and academic life, rather than focusing solely on our teaching and research.
We are unionizing for quality and affordable housing
Several unlucky individuals have gotten stuck in elevators, some have dealt with peeling paint and murky water, and others still with broken heating. Complaints were filed but not addressed promptly. The front desk was short-staffed. And almost everyone agreed that the rent was too high.
Director of International Students Office responds to international students op-ed
If the UE becomes the sole representative of graduate students in the bargaining unit, we do not know how these matters will be handled in contract negotiations and what an article on international students might look like.
An open letter regarding faculty and the graduate student union
We pledge to not attempt to persuade graduate students how to vote on unionization and to avoid presenting one-sided views for or against unionization.
MIT Chancellor and Vice Chancellor provide important updates on graduate student unionization issues
Ultimately, we do not want to draw any unnecessary lines among MIT’s 7,000 graduate students. However, the unionization process requires us to do that in one way or another.
The case for labor unions
Those who organize to form labor unions are neither irrational nor impulsive. Those who organize to form labor unions are critical thinkers driven by necessity.
We are international students and we are voting yes on the GSU
Surely, MIT can take concrete steps to address these issues we face as international students. Unfortunately, many of their recent policies have done the opposite.
An open letter on the war in Ukraine
This is a catastrophe for Russia and for the Russian people: a dark night is descending, and those least responsible for this war will suffer the most.
MIT’s administration seeks to exclude over 1,000 graduate workers on fellowship from unionization vote
Decisions about whether to fund graduate workers by RA-ship, TA-ship, or fellowship are often made arbitrarily for reasons of administrative convenience, without any difference in work duties.