ISU Grad Workers Union drop banner at basketball game, continue negotiations

Photo provided by the ISU Graduate Workers Union

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State University Graduate Workers Union is still in negotiations with the university over fair wages after several months of talks.

The union, which has over 450 members, represents graduate students who are also employees of the university, including many instructors and TAs. The union originally formed in 2018 and has been negotiating the current contract for the past eight months.

According to English instructor and prominent member of the union Steven Lazaroff, the university has been fairly unresponsive in negotiations.

“The major thing is always wages. The answer to a lot of problems is more money,” Lazaroff said. “Especially because our members report that they are anxious and depressed specifically because of the low wages. The fact that they struggle to pay rent, to eat and to get proper healthcare.”

One of the most recognizable tools of the union is frequently seen around campus, a massive banner reading “ISU PAYS POVERTY WAGES,” which recently appeared at a basketball game on the Jan. 17. That banner was also accompanied by a second, smaller one reading, “PAY GRAD WORKERS FAIRLY.”

According to Lazaroff, the banners serves a specific purpose.

“They’re aware that it’s a problem to us, but it’s not a problem to them, and that’s why we carry that banner around: because it’s embarrassing to them,” Lazaroff said. “They should be embarrassed that people are going to a food pantry while they have hundreds of millions of dollars.”

The union negotiates on many topics aside from wages, including student fees, discrimination and healthcare. However, the university has been somewhat unresponsive to negotiation according to Lazaroff. This has led to the negotiations team planning a strike vote in the spring, where members will vote to either ratify the contract they’ve reached or begin striking.

“We’re getting to the point where, cliché wise, push comes to shove,” Lazaroff said. “We’re building to have the […] strongest possible union so that we can win the best possible contract.”

If there is a strike, Lazaroff believes it would have a “tremendous” effect on the university.

“Hundreds of us are instructors of record on courses,” Lazaroff said. “You strike in order to draw attention but you also strike because, economically, it’s hitting them right where it hurts. It shows that without us stuff will stop. You need us.”

On Jan. 24 the union gave speeches at the Academic Senate meeting of ISU, and they continue negotiating with a bargaining session with administration on Jan. 26.