UNION STORIES: Why Graduate Student-Workers Across MIT Want to Unionize

by Sneha Kabaria and Kaylee McCormack

The most powerful reason that we want a union is so that we have a better voice at MIT and get our concerns addressed. Throughout the past six months thousands of graduate student-workers have voiced the reasons unionization would help them during their time at MIT. Here are stories from graduate student-workers from across the institute, including ourselves. Each of us has a different story but we’re joining together for respect, fairness, and a voice for all. Join the thousands of graduate student-workers who signed the vote yes petition and hope to see you at the polls!

Diverse issues but mutual solidarity–VOTE YES on April 4 and 5!

IT’S FUNDAMENTAL, WE NEED DENTAL 

“As I near the end of my PhD, I have put off dental care because I don't have insurance. Now I am just crossing my fingers that my partially-emerged wisdom teeth don't get re-infected -  before I start my next job. With a union, we can advocate for full dental coverage for all grad workers!”

A REPRESENTATIVE TO HELP WHEN WE’RE LEFT IN A JAM

“My advisor accepted an offer at a different university during my final year in my PhD. When my labmates and I went to the department and institute for guidance on how to proceed with our thesis work, there was no apparent precedent for how to handle our situation, and some folks were strongly discouraged by the department from following paths that would have been beneficial to them. Communication was poor, and it seemed like people were making things up as they went along. With a union grievance procedure, we will have representation when instances like this take place and won’t be left high and dry.”

EXPANDED MENTAL HEALTH COVERAGE WON BY OUR MOVEMENT–

“I have dealt with anxiety issues during my PhD. Having access to free counseling was always a comfort to me. The RISE campaign, an early issues campaign organized by our union, was successful in securing expanded mental health coverage for grad workers. With a union contract, we can codify this so that those benefits are not taken away, like our dental insurance was years ago."

CODIFY OUR GAINS IN A BINDING CONTRACT

"I want to see the mental health wins from the campaign a few years ago codified into a contract. Without a contract, MIT can remove benefits at any time. Especially, I want to have the 52 therapy sessions a year guaranteed, because graduate school increases the stress we researchers face. I feel that the impact of this codification would be feeling secure in my ability for self care. "

EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY 

"I worked on department-level student advocacy for several years before joining the GSU organizing committee. I found myself continually frustrated as we presented the same issues and data to our department leadership month after month, year after year, while little changed. I realized that the needs of students will always be secondary to the desires of the Institute, unless we come together as a union to demand the changes that we need and deserve. Only with a powerful union and a strong contract will we finally be able to address workplace and financial issues that still plague graduate workers day after day."

UNION WILL BENEFIT OUR COMMUNITY–PROUD TO BE A PART OF IT

I arrived at MIT, a working class, POC, first generation in college, expecting to prepare for a career in science. I quickly realized that I had actually come to work for the institution. But then I witnessed the power of collective action in the RISE campaign, and I saw that grad workers were organizing to cement that power in our union. I grew up in a union-saturated community, so I understand well the wide reaching benefits an organized labor force can bring to not just individual workers but their communities as well. I imagine what our union will do to help transform conditions for MIT's community -- it makes me proud to be a part of it."

PRECARITY AND RISKS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

"We deserve a voice in our workplace and a union can truly guarantee that through equalizing the extreme imbalance of power between us workers and MIT admin. As an international student, I believe that the union would be especially helpful in compelling MIT to mitigate our exposure to precarity and risks. I stand in solidarity with my coworkers across the institute to win fair, equal, and supportive working conditions for all of us."

SUPPORT FROM HARASSMENT AND ABUSE

“Graduate workers are very vulnerable to their employers' abuse. At my previous school, I was repeatedly verbally abused by the professor I worked for, who--I later realized--always chose international graduate students as TAs probably because he thinks we are more easily manipulated. He forced me to grade exams in a biased way, giving better grades only to students he liked (who *happened* to be all white males). I reported the professor, but they just terminated my TA position and told me explicitly that, although they had received complaints on this professor for over ten years, "they could do nothing because he is tenured." This experience left me with significant trauma–but also with the understanding that when bad things happen we need a student organization on our own side that can support and protect us."

ARBITRARY DEMANDS ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

"MIT required everyone to be back on campus starting from Fall 2021. I was in my home country and had been working remotely for two semesters back then. My plan was to return in November due to family reasons. Moreover, I had no TA or classes and both my advisor and my department agreed, and therefore there was no reason for me to return in September. In the meanwhile, students in many peer universities were able to work remotely from abroad. However, when I contacted MIT admin, they just claimed that it was MIT policy made by "the School Deans and members of Senior Leadership", and I must return on time unless I could find some non-research funding or face an "absolute barrier" according to their definition that excluded my personal case. If we had a union, MIT would have been required to go through us before making such policies, and I might be able to work remotely, spend more time with my family in this pandemic, experience less mental stress, and return on my planned date with cheaper airfare."