Members of the Graduate Employees Organization at the University of Michigan march during bargaining negotiations
A t public and private universities across the US, graduate students are leading the ongoing academic labor movement. Graduate unions fight for traditional protections—fair wages, workplace safety, and protections against harassment and discrimination—but they increasingly link their demands to a broader scope of safe working conditions.
In solidarity with communities on and around their campuses, graduate unions are redefining the traditional purview of labor rights to include social justice concerns, connecting issues like Cops off Campus and access to gender-affirming and reproductive healthcare to the well-being and working conditions of graduate student workers and, thus, incorporating them into bargaining with universities.