Graduate student workers (e.g. researchers, students, teachers, and members of the campus community) make up just one sect of Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) overworked and underpaid labor force-- otherwise known as RAMily. We strive to uphold VCU’s values of accountability, achievement, collaboration, freedom, innovation, service, diversity, and integrity. We as VCU graduate workers express these values in our work everyday. In return, VCU’s values require the administration to guarantee us a living wage and benefits.

VCU Graduate Workers Demand:

• $40,000 annual for graduate worker stipends-- standardize

• $19 per hour wage floor for masters graduate workers

• Full health insurance plans provided to all graduate students

• Childcare for all university workers, including graduate workers

• Safe working environments

• Stipends for all current unpaid graduate internships

• End student fees

• Clear working contracts

  
  

Graduate workers deserve a living wage and benefits.

VCU graduate student workers may make as little as $5,000 a semester, while having to pay exorbitant university-fees and work with no guaranteed health insurance or affordable childcare. As of July 2022, the estimated living wage for a single adult living in Richmond, VA with no dependents stands at an annual income of $39,380 or an hourly wage of $18.93. Pay for VCU graduate workers falls well below these baseline figures (see Table 1 on page 2).

Table 1. Graduate worker pay by department or school

Additionally, in academic year 2021, the School of Education cut graduate worker salaries in half with only a few months' notice. Further, beginning salaries started at half the living wage calculator ($20k), to the current amount of $10k a year. As inflation and the cost of living continue to rise, the gap widens between a living wage and current pay for VCU graduate workers. Simultaneously, many of our contracts prevent us from obtaining other forms of employment. Yet, our bosses receive paychecks much more than a living wage. For example, President Rao’s salary would fund a living wage for 17 graduate students for one year.

Pay inequity contributes to racial and gender gaps in academia.

Although our university administration talks about diversity, equity and inclusion, is racial or gender justice reflected in their actions? A living wage and benefits would mean much more than a pay raise for VCU graduate workers. To make ends meet on our current income, many of us live increasingly far away from campus in pursuit of affordable rent, which leads to higher commuting costs and more time per day spent commuting. Some of us are caregivers for children or other family members. Without a living wage, many of us are unable to support our loved ones or start a family of our own. Living wages and benefits for VCU graduate workers could help to close gender and racial gaps in academia and beyond by making masters and PhD programs more accessible to those who belong to underrepresented groups.

The law requires a safe working environment.

VCU administration has failed to provide safe working and learning environments on university campuses. While the university continues to buy new properties around Richmond, there have been reports of asbestos and mold in older buildings - basic maintenance issues that remain unresolved. There has been a lack of transparency about building inspections. Some buildings are not suitable for students with physical accessibility needs. At present, there also appear to be no uniform pandemic safety protocols on campus.

Hope for Change

UCWVA members are inspired by graduate worker organizing efforts across the country at research universities that boast similar financial resources. For example, Master of Social Work graduate student workers at The University of Michigan have secured $25 per hour stipends for field placements in public schools. Graduate workers at Cornell University won increased stipend rates for 9-month and summer terms that match MIT’s Living Wage calculator for Tompkins County, New York. In response to graduate worker demands, Princeton and Harvard Universities increased their stipend to around $40,000 for all PhD workers and Life and Physical Sciences PhD workers, respectively. Brown University increased PhD stipends from roughly $35,000 to more than $42,000 following an agreement between the administration and the Graduate Labor Organization. After submitting a petition with roughly 450 signatures in 2021, graduate workers at the University of Virginia (UVA) saw a $2,000 PhD stipend increase and secured more standardized language in their contracts across departments. UVA grad workers then organized a protest to reiterate their demands and saw further media coverage of their campaign.

Demand for Urgent Action

More and more graduate workers are hurt each year as a result of the above actions and inactions. UCWVA hears about more and more of their members struggling. We demand action from VCU to stand behind their espoused values. We advise the VCU administration that our current contracts only set minimum requirements for wages and benefits, and that they could raise graduate worker pay rates and bolster benefits at any time. Working graduate students need liveable wages and benefits now–and we call on VCU administrators to raise all graduate pay rates and benefits to meet a baseline standard of living in Richmond.

Join UCWVA in demanding a living wage and benefits for all VCU graduate workers. Sign in support, share this petition widely, and join fellow UCWVA members as we organize around these issues that affect us all.