At 12 p.m. on Nov. 29, approximately 100 graduate students who are part of the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation walked out of their lab classes in Willamette Hall in support of higher pay and benefits.
The graduate students, largely consisting of lab aides and researchers, advocated for a higher pay raise and better working conditions. The students chanted slogans such as “UO works because we do.”
GTFF organizers also announced its intention to attend the Board of Trustees meeting on Dec. 4 in support of a presentation that will be given by GTFF.
Rocky Penick, a GTFF organizer who spoke at the walkout, is GTFF’s biology department liaison. As a graduate student in the neuroscience department, they research Alzheimer’s disease.
“This [walkout] was sort of our debut showing the university that if they don’t take our needs seriously in bargaining for this contract, we will strike, we will walk out, and they will not see a single result from us until they give us the wages and working conditions that we deserve,” Penick said.
“In an ideal world, research would be a 9-to-5 job, but a lot of times research is a 9-to-9 job or a 7 a.m.-to-10 p.m. job,” Penick said.
Scott Lambert, a graduate student in physics, cited privilege in graduate science programs as his reason for walking out in support of higher pay.
“Grad school is basically like a sieve. Because it costs so much to go to grad school, it keeps people from lower wealth backgrounds from getting into those positions of power,” Lambert said.
“I see that as part of the reason why the sciences are so misused today. We have a cost barrier to getting into science. And that keeps [science] as an old boys club,” he said.
Lambert believes that the presence of more diverse PhD students in the sciences can push companies like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to make fewer weapons, and instead, develop technology that benefits society.
GTFF and UO will continue negotiations tomorrow, Nov. 30. More information regarding GTFF’s looming strike can be read here.
Around 100 graduate researcher employees participated in a walkout demonstration on Nov. 29, 2023 in Willamette Hall. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)
