Earlier this month graduate workers at the University of Minnesota in Duluth and the Twin Cities held informational pickets calling public attention to the tough contract fight they are having with the administration. Below is a statement summarizing their struggle that was issued by their union, the UMN Graduate Labor Union - United Electrical Workers Local 1105 . Local 1105 statement: For nearly a year, GLU-UE Local 1105 has been rebuffed at the bargaining table, with the University of Minnesota repeatedly reinforcing that our members’ priorities are not the University’s. The mission of the University of Minnesota is to drive groundbreaking research, provide a world-class education, and support the local community through outreach. Graduate Assistants are the employees who carry out this mission. Did you hear about the recent breakthroughs like those in treatments for corn crop pathogens, our understanding of lung failure in pneumonia & COVID-19, and causes of gun violence a
The whole country is experiencing an alarming housing crisis. City sidewalks are now bedrooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. We walk by this disaster every day. This dire situation is created by inaccessible homeownership and sky-high rents. It includes decades of deep-rooted discrimination, falling hardest on single women raising kids and marginalized families, particularly of color. Solutions are desperately needed.