About a year ago, Fordham Graduate Student Workers (FGSW) unionized by an overwhelming vote of 229-15. Approximately seven months ago, they began their first contract negotiations with Fordham University. Today, they are still negotiating–and yet the university continues to refuse to agree to basic demands of the union. In response, FGSW is walking out next week from April 24 to April 26.
The worries that drove unionization in the first place are at the heart of what FGSW is negotiating to win, and what's driving them to walk out. The details in Rina Lokaj's "How Fordham’s Graduate Student Workers Are Unionizing" article paint a uniquely grim picture. Graduate workers get a stipend that's only $29,000 after taxes in New York City; they're often forced to work more than 20 hours despite not being paid for that and it being against university regulations; and the pay is frequently not on time. For international students, this all but precludes being able to reliably live around campus–but even for local students, the pay is so inadequate to the amount of work being done that they must often use their own money for supplies.
None of this is being taken particularly seriously by Fordham University. International students in particular have been named as a non-priority; but even the demand of a living wage (about $28/hr or $60,000/yr) is one the university has called excessive despite the current lack of pay demonstrably causing harm to students. With little progress and few other avenues for recourse, walking out is what the union has settled on. You can see the schedule for their walkout here: