‘Many of us are struggling’: why US universities are facing a wave of strikes

[Jonnyeagle]

Thousands of workers at universities have gone on strike in 2023 amid new union contract negotiations in demand of pay increases that align with the effect high inflation rates have had on the cost of living.

The strikes are a continuation of wave of industrial action in higher education in the US last year. In late 2022, 48,000 graduate workers and post-doctoral researchers went on strike throughout the University of California system, the largest strikein US higher education history. There were 15 academic strikes in the US in 2022, the highest number of strikes in academia in at least 20 years.

On 11 April, about 280 faculty and staff at Governors State University in Illinois went on strike, joining around 100 faculty at Chicago State University and 300 faculty at Eastern Illinois University who began striking earlier this month in demand for fair pay increases.

The University of Michigan recently lost an attempt to obtain a court injunction against 2,300 graduate workers who began striking on 29 March, after a judge denied the request to issue an injunction to halt the strike.

The unions criticized Rutgers’ role in soaring rent costs in the area given the university is the largest landlord in the New Brunswick, New Jersey, area. The university system has also been criticized for poor investments of endowment funds and overspending on sports programs.

read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/21/us-universities-wave-strikes

 

[untphd]

On 4/21/2023 at 8:11 PM, Jonnyeagle said:

Thousands of workers at universities have gone on strike in 2023 amid new union contract negotiations in demand of pay increases that align with the effect high inflation rates have had on the cost of living.

The strikes are a continuation of wave of industrial action in higher education in the US last year. In late 2022, 48,000 graduate workers and post-doctoral researchers went on strike throughout the University of California system, the largest strikein US higher education history. There were 15 academic strikes in the US in 2022, the highest number of strikes in academia in at least 20 years.

On 11 April, about 280 faculty and staff at Governors State University in Illinois went on strike, joining around 100 faculty at Chicago State University and 300 faculty at Eastern Illinois University who began striking earlier this month in demand for fair pay increases.

The University of Michigan recently lost an attempt to obtain a court injunction against 2,300 graduate workers who began striking on 29 March, after a judge denied the request to issue an injunction to halt the strike.

The unions criticized Rutgers’ role in soaring rent costs in the area given the university is the largest landlord in the New Brunswick, New Jersey, area. The university system has also been criticized for poor investments of endowment funds and overspending on sports programs.

read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/21/us-universities-wave-strikes

 

I was going to say you never hear this about coaches, but then I found this older article

http://archive.boston.com/sports/articles/2005/07/17/coaches_going_out_on_strike/?camp=pm