Underpaid at UT

Join us (virtually) for “Higher Ed Strikes & Workers’ Rights: Improving News Coverage of Labor Issues” on Wed, Feb 15 (4pm PT/6pm CT/7pm ET).

This panel will bring together rank-and-file grad worker organizers from UCLA, Boston University, and Underpaid@UT for a conversation on labor organizing and its representation in the news.

Higher Ed Strikes & Workers’ Rights—Improving News Coverage of Labor Issues A panel discussion with graduate worker organizers who will share their insights into labor issues that news coverage often overlooks.

Pretty cold outside. Bundle up, drink something warm, and sign the pay raise petition to express your support for the 10K state employee pay raise!

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/all-texas-university-workers-and-state-employees-need-a-pay-raise

Help circulate it if you can!

Join us this Friday 5 PM at Mockingbird Saloon (2610 Guadalupe St)! We'll discuss what we learned during the grade-in and strategize our spring actions.

Join us Friday at 5 as we make signs for Tuesday's grade-in and finalize our letter to the Provost!

We'll be out back on the patio at Mockingbird Saloon on Guadalupe.

Make your labor visible! Come join us next Tuesday 12/13 as your schedule allows!

Modeled after the “sit-in” style of protest, our upcoming grade-in is intended to raise awareness about the inadequate and inequitable compensation that many graduate student workers continue to face, especially in light of the ever-increasing cost of living in Austin. Some of you may remember that Underpaid led a similar action in 2019, campaigning against the Tuition Reduction Benefit (TRB) gap that existed in many departments, causing many graduate students to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for their own tuition.

Before the grade-in, we will release a statement to the UT administration that summarizes our demands for improved wages, cost of living increases, and a closure of the current healthcare coverage gaps. On the 13th, following the release of our statement, we will meet in front of the UT Tower at 9am and proceed to collectively assemble in the hallway around the Provost’s office (on the second floor of the Main Building), where we will remain until 5pm. While there, we will perform the labor we provide to the university, whether it be in the form of grading, writing, or research.

This will be the second of a series of actions we have planned for this academic year leading up to the next Texas legislative session and May Day. It is our hope that graduate student labor organizing can serve as a link between campus workers, who are similarly underpaid and overworked amid staff shortages, and the rest of the student body who also find themselves in this affordability crisis.

See you there!

In solidarity,
Underpaid@UT Organizing Committee

Reproductive justice is a worker's rights issue. Join us at the National Day of Student Action THIS Thursday at 11AM at UT's West Mall for a rally facilitated by GSAN and If/How/When. More information here: https://utforreprojustice.my.canva.site/ -0

Hi everyone! Hope the week is going well! Please join us for our town hall event today from 3-5pm! We hope to hear about your experiences and concerns about being a worker and student at UT and answer your questions about Underpaid.
Here is a great article that goes over some of the concerns graduate students in other states are experiencing as well:

As pandemic drags on, Nevada college students feel financial squeeze The trope of the “broke college student” is not cliche, but rather a genuine struggle for thousands of Nevada students who have increasingly sought help from school-sponsored food pantries to help offset rising rents.

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful winter break and an amazing start to the spring semester! We will be posting the zoom link soon for the organizing committee meeting this Friday at 3pm. We hope to see you!
In addition, here is a great article summarizing the graduate student labor movement at various universities:

Graduate Student Workers Are in the Frontline of the Growing Labor Movement - Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly Working at wealthy schools while earning low wages, graduate students at NYU, Harvard, Columbia, and elsewhere take their issues to the picket lines.

This a great article detailing the hard work of NYU graduate students organizing:

What Can We Learn From the NYU Graduate Union's Historic Strike? The successful strike earlier this year was not organized overnight—it took months of preparation and outreach efforts.

Hope to see you at the Hole in the Wall Today at 5:30pm for our Organizing School Event with TSEU! More information can be found in our newsletter: https://bit.ly/32f1DDU! See you soon!

Organizing School event this Thursday 11/18 Hi everyone, Thanks for being a member of Underpaid! Want to be involved in building graduate worker power to make UT a more just, democratic university? Ways to join us: Join us for another Organizing School on this Thursday, November 18 at 5:30pm-7:30pm at Hole in the Wall, which will be co-ho...