The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition went on a three-day strike in April, 2024.
(Bente Bouthier/WTIU News)
Indiana University announced Friday that it’s raising pay for graduate students with part-time research or teaching duties, but the union representing the workers isn’t satisfied.
Student academic appointees, or SAAs, will earn a minimum of $24,000 a year.
“This increase ensures we remain highly competitive with our peers for minimum stipends, which is crucial for recruiting the best students to IU’s flagship campus,” Provost Rahul Shrivastav said.
SAAs work 20 hours per week for 10 months of the year, and they receive health benefits. The $24,000 minimum starts this summer.
The raise is less than what the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition, a union that represents SAAs, has wanted. The IGWC has fought for higher pay and union recognition since its creation in 2019.
The union wants to raise members’ pay to about $34,000 for a 10-month contract, which it says is what it takes to live comfortably in Bloomington. For 12-month contracts, the union is asking for about $41,400.
Though graduate student workers are technically part-time, the union said they’re “expected to be full-time students, teachers, and researchers.”
“IU would not be an R1 institution without our labor,” the union said, referring to the designation for major research universities. “For most of us, we could not teach without the (interconnected) studying or research that we do.”
Since 2021, the minimum stipend for SAAs at IU Bloomington has increased by 60 percent, according to the university. The IGWC said the increases are due to union pressure and strikes.
“This is a minor raise that merely gives the appearance that this administration is doing something and actually cares for the lives of their graduate workers,” the union said. “At the same time, President Whitten received $825,000 between her salary and bonus and Provost Shrivastav received $540,000. The creation of a graduate ombudsperson or a Bloomington Chancellor only inflates the cost of administration while graduate workers still make far below a living wage.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
