BU Graduate Workers Union rank-and-file Support Fund
Solidarity with grad worker organizing, in Boston and everywhere!
Organized by Boston University Graduate Workers Union
Lauren Rains
Fundraiser since May 2024
$435
4 supporters
43% of $1,000 goal
Lauren Rains' Story
Team Members
Jacob
$2,439.59
16 Supporters
Kira
$1,686.63
13 Supporters
Patrick
$1,088.26
10 Supporters
American Studies
$1,505
7 Supporters
Nikunj
$1,248.39
5 Supporters
Kate
$665.19
9 Supporters
Theology
$733.26
6 Supporters
Andrew
$798.39
5 Supporters
Bioinformatics
$451.63
5 Supporters
Amulya
$510.02
4 Supporters
Lauren
$435
4 Supporters
Lauren
$275
5 Supporters
Story
Campaign Update
3 months ago
Earlier in October, BUGWU workers voted to end our 7 month long strike and ratify our first union contract.
For years, the members of BUGWU have demonstrated bravery, imagination, determination, and an ethic of solidarity and mutual support. Our wins are nothing short of transformative: A 73% increase in stipends for our lowest-paid PhDs, up to $3,500 in annual childcare subsidies per child, a full semester of paid parental leave, 50% public transit discount and bike subsidy, and transitional funding for workers who are in between job arrangements. These wins were only possible because your donation helped us pay rent, bills, and groceries while we struck our labor. If you are receiving this message, you helped us raise over $200 thousand dollars (!), which we redistributed, in full, to our striking workers in need.
Given that each striking worker could only receive up to $200/week in strike pay from our parent union, setting up an independent support fund was the only way to sustain our strike. It was a daunting task that none of us had any experience in but pulled together because of support from comrades from the Lucy Parsons Center, University of Michigan GEO, University of California Santa Cruz grads, Working Partnerships, and Teamster local 120. Armed now with this experience, we’d love to support any of you who may be in a similar position. If materially preparing for a strike is on the horizon for you and your co-workers, let's connect!
While we celebrate our successes, we soberly recognize that organizing must continue. Already, we are seeing retaliation from the University in the form of admissions restrictions and reductions to job and funding opportunities. We did not win any substantive changes for Masters and other non-PhD workers in this contract cycle. We also won no meaningful improvements to our insurance, or to services for our international, disabled, neurodivergent, and/or chronically ill workers (such as the right to a wheelchair accessible campus, ASL interpretation services, and university-supported COVID testing).
Knowing that the power to push past the University's profiteering actions and stubborn refusals lies with us, many BUGWU workers are committed to organizing post-ratification to build the workplace and union that we want. Read and share our full statement from the rank-and-file, “No Contract Could Ever Be Enough”.
This GiveButter page will now, therefore, be used to those ends. We are now doing a round of post-strike fundraising within our union and its surrounding communities, asking for donations to support the following:
1. First, 50% of money raised between now and Nov 28, 2025 will go to our fiscal sponsor, the Lucy Parsons Center, a Boston-based activist bookstore. The LPC has declined to charge us the 10-15% in sponsorship fees that is typical of nonprofits. That would have amounted to a fee of $32,000 (!) based on the $215,000 that BUGWU has raised, cutting into our available hardship funds (seriously, thank you guys). We are pledging a one-time gift to support their mission and operation. Additionally, we encourage you to become an LPC Patreon member and directly support their projects here.
2. Second, a group of us are piloting a debt collective project where we collectivize debts that grads incurred as a result of the strike, and use this fund to raise and send out money, in hopes of helping with the issue of lost wages due to going on strike. We hope to broaden this effort eventually.
3. Finally, going forward, we will continue to administer hardship funds and build up a long-term fund for the next strike(s). Just as how we had democratically set up this GiveButter, BUGWU members will decide and vote on how we use our money, and can audit all records at any time.
If you want to stay involved and in the loop, your continued support would be important to us. Reach out to bugwuwsf@gmail.com if you would like to work with us on a joint project.
In solidarity,
The BUGWU Worker Support Fund Team
Campaign Update
7 months ago
BU grad workers are entering a critical time: As Fall semester approaches, we believe we have significant leverage, and aim to win more for more members of our unit. If you can, please consider making another donation to support our grads and forwarding this email to someone you know could support us.
Our strike has already forced BU to make important concessions, and your donation has helped dozens of grads stay afloat. Still, there is more to win. Thank you for your solidarity with BU grad workers!
How Have We Used Your Donations?
Grad workers at BU have been on strike since March 24. Since then, we have distributed $188,000 in donations to 164 workers on strike. These funds have supported grad workers in purchasing food and basic necessities, paying rent, and supporting dependents.
Your donation has helped us force the following major concessions from BU:
- A minimum PhD annual stipend of $45,000 which reduces rent burden for many grads;
- 12 month funding for all PhD workers, thus increasing the stipends of grads on existing 8 month contracts by more than 70%; and
- 14 weeks of paid parental leave.
The above wins have significantly reduced the financial burden of living and working in Boston for some grads. However, BU’s offer restricts gains to certain segments of our unit. Many grad workers stand to gain little, if anything.
What Else Are We Fighting For?
On August 7, Boston University presented us with their latest offer: $45,000/year for PhD workers and $20/hour for non-PhD workers, for a contract period of 5 years. BUGWU workers across departments met urgently to discuss the offer and our response. On August 13, we voted not to accept BU’s offer but to push for more.
Importantly, the start of Fall offers us critical leverage from the perspective of university-wide course planning and course registration. We are resolved to keep fighting so that more workers will benefit from our contract. Notably, we are keen to close some of the following gaps under the current offer:
- BU has rejected our Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) demand that links annual raises to Boston-area rents, which means any stipend gains may be quickly eroded by rent and inflation.
- Many non-PhD workers already get paid around $20/hour and work multiple jobs, and still struggle to pay rent and tuition. BU’s offer threatens to lock us into the status quo for the next 5 years. BU has also categorically rejected any form of tuition waiver while charging in excess of $60,000/year for most programs.
- BU has categorically rejected most of our proposed protections for disabled, chronically ill, and neurodivergent graduate workers.
- BU is offering parents an annual childcare stipend that is only about half of what peer institutions in the area provide.
- BU has rejected our proposal for free dental and vision insurance coverage.
- BU has rejected our proposals for improved immigration and visa-related support for international students.
What Are We Hoping to Achieve?
BU, whose $3 billion endowment is generated and maintained by paying its workers as little as they can get away with, can well afford to give us more.
We believe that our fight for a strong contract will not only benefit us, but galvanize more workers’ push for better wages, benefits, and protections within BU and at other universities. This means raising the bar for postdocs, faculty, administrative staff, custodians, undergrad workers, and many other workers whose labor runs higher education.
Will you make a donation today? Every amount counts. Reach out to us at bugwuwsf@gmail.com if you have any questions, or would like to work together on a solidarity effort!
In Solidarity,
BU Grad Workers Fund Team
Campaign Update
11 months ago
Good evening,
To all our supporters and donors: we are incredibly grateful to you for helping graduate workers at BU through what has been a very stressful few weeks.
We have been blown away by the breadth and depth of solidarity that we have received, and the messages you have left on the page have meant alot to us.
So far thanks to your crucial support we have approved $70,000 to 95 people out of the $101,000 fundraised in the first cycle of pay withholding!
Many recipients were workers without other sources of income, and would not have been able to continue striking due to Boston's steep rents and exorbitant childcare. Medical appointments have had to be postponed due to financial hardship.
To continue supporting our grad workers we need to fundraise another $70,000 in the next 7 days, particularly with rent day coming up fast.
Any more you could give will really help keep our strength as we enter into the all-important end of semester period.
Otherwise just spreading this message would also be of immense support!
With deep gratitude and solidarity,
Boston University Graduate Workers Union
