Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | September 19, 2022 | wbjournal.com E D U C AT I O N & C A R E E R G U I D E FOCUS BY TIMOTHY DOYLE WBJ Staff Writer O n Aug. 25, move-in day for incoming students at Clark University in Worcester, students and parents were greeted by demonstrators holding signs and chanting at the main entrance to the university. e demonstrators were with the Clark University Graduate Workers United, a union seeking better wages, stipends, and health in- surance coverage for the low-pay- ing positions oen considered halfway between students and pro- fessional workers. "We want parents to understand the economic reality that the workers who are teaching their children face," said William West- gard-Cruice, a PhD student in Clark's geography department. e Clark graduate student union is part of a nationwide effort made possible by the President Joe Biden Administra- tion's decision to allow graduate students at private universities to unionize. A similar effort is underway at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and both follow the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations certification in March 2021 giv- ing doctors in training at UMass Medical School the ability to collectively bargain. In unionizing, the graduate students are seeking better working conditions for roles oen considered more apprentice- ships than jobs and are fighting against long-held attitudes and political winds, keeping wages low. Public vs. private university unions Graduate student workers who are unionizing are generally teaching assis- tants and/or research assistants. ey perform work such as teaching under- graduate classes and performing research under a principal investigator. Graduate students at public universi- ties and private universities face different challenges when unionizing. At public schools, workers are state employees and are subject to the labor laws of the state in which they operate. Private university workers are subject to federal laws and the National Labor Relations Board. is makes things complicated, said Nafisa Tanjeem, associate professor of interdisciplinary studies at Worcester State University. ere are different opinions on whether graduate student employees are primarily students or primarily workers. A lot has to do with politics. Massachusetts and 13 other state allow graduate students to organize, while 23 specifically don't allow it. In the remain- der, state employees can organize but not necessarily graduate student workers and there may be restrictions on their ability to strike. For private universities, the NLRB oversees labor organization, which means that judgements can shi from one presidential administration to another. In 2004, the NLRB ruled against a group at Brown University in Rhode Island trying to organize with the argu- ment that it would interfere with their education, according to e Chronicle of Higher Education. In August 2016, NLRB overruled the previous decision. en in 2019, under the former Pres- ident Donald Trump Administration, a new rule forbidding student workers from organizing was proposed, but in 2021 that proposed rule was withdrawn under the new Biden Administration. is cleared the way for graduate students at Clark University, who started organizing in December 2020, to vote in March to form CUGWU with the support of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 170 of Worcester. e union is now negotiating for high- Student workers at WPI and Clark are trying to improve their financial positions through unionization efforts Graduate unions Nafisa Tanjeem, WSU associate professor (Above) The Clark University Graduate Workers United held a rally on Aug. 25. (Below) Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj speaks at the union rally. (Right) The Clark University campus in Worcester PHOTOS | DANIEL MESA-BUITRAGO

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