On strike: Clark University graduate workers walk out

WORCESTER — Just across from the Clark University campus on Main Street, two semitrailer trucks sat parked, blaring their horns to signal the beginning of a strike by the union representing graduate student workers at Clark University.

The workers walked off the job Monday morning.

Less than a month after voting to authorize a strike, the union has had one bargaining meeting, during which, the union said, the university made it clear it would not be open to substantive negotiations.

More: Why are graduate students unionizing in Worcester, and across the U.S.?

“We are campaigning for a contract that guarantees financial security and access to health care,” said William Westgard-Cruice, a Ph.D. candidate and member of the union organizing committee. "We believe that the administration will have to come to the table."

In a statement published Monday afternoon, Clark University said it regrets that the graduate workers opted to initiate a strike "without official notice," rather than "focus on reaching agreement" on a contract.

"The goal of these negotiations is to reach a mutually acceptable and realistic contract. Instead, the union’s representatives have approached the deliberations as a series of demands which are not contributing to a constructive resolution," the university said. "The give and take inherent to resolving differing perspectives within finite resources requires that parties engage with one another."

Collective bargaining, the university said, typically takes 466 days to complete, on average.

The university and the union have reached tentative agreements in three of four broad categories, the university said, including management and union rights, appointments and work assignments, and discipline and grievance processes.

A tentative agreement  has not been reached on compensation and benefits, also known as "the economic package."

While the university says it has proposed a 100% health insurance subsidy, the provision of sick days, bereavement and personal days to doctoral students represented by the union, the "primary area of disagreement" has been the stipend that graduate workers receive.

"This has substantial budgetary implications. The University has come forward with proposals that increase current stipends within available resources and based on competitive rates at comparable institutions," the university said. "Again, our expectation was to engage in continued dialogue to resolve these outstanding issues."

Before the strike authorization vote in September, the union's bargaining committee had met with the university several times, receiving an economic package offer at their meeting in August.

The group found the offer insufficient and voted to authorize a strike not long after, hoping to encourage the university to meet the contract expectations of the graduate workers.

On Monday, the group was marching in a circle and reciting chants led by Clark University Graduate Workers United, hundreds of people, including Teamsters, students, faculty members and others gathered at the main entrance of the university to offer their support.

During the strike, union members will receive $150 a week in strike pay from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and donations to the group's mutual aid fund, Westgard-Cruice said.

"The Teamsters offer a lot of logistical support ... they've done this many times before," Westgard-Cruice said. "They know what it takes to run a strike in terms of organizing shifts, ... communication between all involved, they also have resources that we will draw upon in terms of food to nourish the striking workers and supporters."

The group is hoping that unions around New England will offer their support by donating the group's mutual aid fund.

Westgard-Cruice said the union is making efforts to drive support, including sending out a petition to professors throughout the university.

Not willing to negotiate

The meeting that followed the strike authorization was "bad," said Carmen Marazzi, a Ph.D. student and member of the union organizing and bargaining committees who said there wasn't "any will" from the university to negotiate.

"It's sad because I really do enjoy my TA (teaching assistant) job. ... I enjoy teaching my students, but I'm not getting paid enough and ... my colleagues aren't getting paid enough to survive here," Marazzi said. "I want to be able to go back to my classroom, but I need to take a stand for myself and for everyone."

Despite the last bargaining session going badly, Marazzi said, the organizing committee had a "very energizing" meeting, during which members from different departments at the university came together to discuss the logistics of the strike."

"I believe we are well prepared to make this a success," she said.

Although union members will not be working in teaching or research assistant positions during the strike, during which they will forgo pay from the university, they will still be attending classes, Marazzi said.

M.K. Speth, a Ph.D. student and union member, said that she is feeling excited about the support the group has received, and she feels confident they will get the contract they want.

While the group, she said, did not want the strike to be "a reality," they are ready to "shut down Clark ... until we get a fair contract."

"We are paid poverty wages and health care is only subsidized by 50%," Speth said. "It's just not enough to live on."

Richard Kruger Delgado, a Ph.D. candidate and member of the organizing committee, said morale is high among union members.

"I think folks are ready to put in the time and energy in to make sure that this goes successfully," Kruger Delgado said. "Our membership is aware of the types of sacrifices on their time that they're going to have to make to make this action."

Westgard-Cruice said the union will be picketing at the main entrance, as well as other entrances around the university, 24/7.

"We know how essential our labor as teachers and researchers is to the day-to-day functioning of the university," Westgard-Cruice said. "We believe that ... strike action is a tool that workers can and should use to compel out-of-touch management to bargain in good faith."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Clark University Graduate Workers United in Worcester declares strike