The BU Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU), which covers graduate teaching fellows, class teachers, and researchers, is currently fighting to improve their inhumane working conditions. Graduate workers’ working conditions are our learning conditions. Graduate workers are the first people we seek academic help from and the people who grade many of our assignments. Our quality of education is directly tied to their labor being respected. In order to guarantee a quality education, BU must provide their workers with sufficient pay.

We must ask ourselves this: how can we expect graduate workers to commit to their jobs and provide proper assistance to us if they are not paid enough to keep up with rapidly increasing living costs? When graduate workers are not treated with respect and dignity, we cannot expect them to fulfill their job requirements. This is why it is essential for BU to bargain with BUGWU in good faith and come to an agreement with a fair contract for the university’s workers.

As undergraduate students at BU, we stand in solidarity with BUGWU so its members win their demands which include wages tied to the cost of living, adequate healthcare provisions, and accessibility across campus.

We pledge to not report grad workers for striking like the Provost is shamelessly asking us to, and we pledge to not accept additional work that normally falls within grad workers’ responsibilities, so as not to weaken the power of the strike. We will support our grad workers throughout their strike and beyond.