This article reflects on the experience of graduate labor organizers at Indiana University, in a “right-to-work,” deep-red state. Dire conditions, including low pay and mandatory university fees, culminated in a graduate worker strike during the spring 2022 semester, which resulted in substantial wins for graduate instructors. This article has three aims: 1) to provide a test case on university organizing within the broader national labor movement, 2) to equip others to organize successfully at …
Read moreThis article reflects on the experience of graduate labor organizers at Indiana University, in a “right-to-work,” deep-red state. Dire conditions, including low pay and mandatory university fees, culminated in a graduate worker strike during the spring 2022 semester, which resulted in substantial wins for graduate instructors. This article has three aims: 1) to provide a test case on university organizing within the broader national labor movement, 2) to equip others to organize successfully at their own institution and 3) to encourage confidence in those workers (graduate, adjunct, nontenure track, and otherwise) that the risk of organizing a labor movement is outstripped by the rewards. We provide advice for university labor, given the peculiarities of the academic calendar, and reply to the inevitable accusation that organized labor is at odds with education. We end by outlining practical suggestions for ensuring a labor movement that provides safety in the solidarity of its membership.
