{
"type": "rich",
"version": "1.0",
"provider_name": "Action Network",
"provider_url": "https://actionnetwork.org",
"html": "",
"author_name": "CWA District 1",
"author_url": "https://actionnetwork.org/groups/cwa-district-1",
"title": "No one should have to pay to work.",
"thumbnail_url": "https://actionnetwork.org//images/generic_facebook.jpg",
"description": "SUNY graduate student workers are relied on to teach classes, grade papers and conduct research and are collapsing under the weight of onerous school fees. In recent years, the cost of these fees has risen steadily at public colleges and universities in the U.S., in response to the problem of inadequate state funding for public higher education. Fees often function as backdoor tuition for public universities to circumvent state imposed tuition caps and sustain their operating costs. In many cases, these fees fund systems and services that graduate workers rely on to do their jobs, such as the software programs used to collect and assess student assignments and submit grades. This constitutes a “pay-to-work” system in which employees are being charged for the maintenance and upkeep of the workplace. Fees account for an average of 15% of grad worker stipends - meaning these workers must pay 15% of their salary back to their employers just to do their jobs. The result is many of these workers living in poverty and having to resort to taking out loans, skipping meals, living in their cars, eating food out of dumpsters, or even selling their blood plasma just to make ends meet. We're calling on our New York State Legislature to put an end to mandatory fees for SUNY and CUNY graduate workers. Send an email right now to your NYS Assemblymember and Senator to tell them to co-sponsoring A.7241/S.3916 and supporting this request in the NYS budget!",
"url": "https://actionnetwork.org/letters/no-one-should-have-to-pay-to-work"
}