By Daniela L. Ginsburg
Boston University News Service
On Friday, Sep. 27, union workers came together to demonstrate solidarity for Boston University’s unions. The strike followed President Melissa L. Gilliam’s inauguration. The unions met to make a statement on the workers’ demands. The strike lasted around 40 minutes, and the unions joined together singing chants, sharing stories and addressing their goals.
The strike included BU’s teaching assistants, teaching fellows and graduate instructors, as well as union siblings such as UAW 2324, SEIU 888, Local 26, BU Residence Life Union and other BU graduate workers.
The strike started with the gathering of union members. A representative from each union shared how the university’s working conditions have affected them, as well as what the strike means to them.
One of the graduate students at the strike, Carlos Campos Jr., said that the strike “…has given [him] sort of a renewal of energy and feeling of [he] can sort of fight for a better life for [himself], especially amidst the living conditions that [he’s] been having.”
According to a union worker who chose to remain anonymous, the overall goals for the strike are “…an effort to negotiate…access to better healthcare, fair compensation, procedures for better accessibility, rights protections and other improvements to the current working situation.”
As groups gathered together, they chanted the following phrases:
“Who runs BU? We run BU.”
“Hey BU you’re no good, pay your workers as you should.”
“No contract. No peace.”
“What power?
These phrases are ways the unions connect and unite through their struggles.
Elliot, whose last name was not disclosed, is a freshman at BU who joined the strike in solidarity with the movement. “I have worked through a union back in my hometown, and solidarity forever means you show up when your fellow workers are on strike if you can,” he said.
Several teaching assistants on strike have chosen not to hold discussion sections for students. Teachers from the university have had to adjust to this circumstance since students are unable to participate in discussion work for larger-sized classes.
Jonathan Foltz, a professor in BU’s English department, has continually expressed his support towards the strike. “I find myself in incredible sympathy with the graduate students and RA’s at the university who are incredibly hard workers, dedicated to what they do and seeking to find a living wage,” he said. He attempts to balance his obligation as a teacher for both undergraduates and graduate students by holding informal office hours to act as discussion sections for students.
When asked to comment about the impact the strike has had on his classes and student’s ability to learn he said “…it wouldn’t be possible to have a strike of the graduate TFs without that impacting the undergraduate experience because for a lot of classes and for a lot of departments, graduate student support is absolutely integral.”
The strike ended with the coordinator whose name was undisclosed uttering the following quote “We stand in solidarity today, tomorrow and every day after that, our struggle does not end here. President Gilliam, today, you celebrate. Tomorrow we bargain.”
This strike was one of many attempts made by BU’s unions to draw attention toward making their voices heard. At the moment, unions will continue to strike until their demands are met.